CONTRARY to the views expressed by Brian Hunt (You Say, May 22) the Government is not bullying pensioners over benefit payments.
Instead, people are being given more choice than they have ever had before as to how they receive their pensions and benefits.
Already, about 60 per cent of new pensioners opt to receive money by Direct Payment and by April 2005, all customers will be able to choose between payments into standard bank or building society accounts, new basic bank accounts or the new Post Office Card Account.More than 100 pensioners a week now lose their pension books through theft and robbery.
The new systems will be much less vulnerable to theft and the benefit book fraud that costs the country £80m a year.
The Government is fully committed to maintaining a national post office network.
To this end it has already given £500m to modernise the Post Office's counter services and an extra £450m to support the Post Office's rural network over the next three years.
The contract for running the Post Office Card Accounts is also worth £1bn over the next 10 years to the Post Office.
ANDREW FLAXMAN,
Regional Press Officer,
Department for Work and Pensions.
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