Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on elderly people and people with mobility issues in towns and villages without bank branches of the discontinuation of the Post Office card system.

The Department is committed to supporting the Department’s customers to access their benefit and pension payments as we transform our payment exception services.

Access to a standard account through a bank, building society or credit union enables citizens to benefit from the wider range of financial services and to achieve greater financial inclusion.

The Post Office delivers every day banking services for a large number of banks and building societies to enable citizens with a standard account to withdraw cash, free of charge, deposit cash and cheques and make balance enquires at any Post Office counter including mobile Post Office branches.

The full range of every day personal banking services that the Post Office delivers from any Post Office branch, and for whom they deliver them, is available on the Post Office website https://www.postoffice.co.uk/everydaybanking.

The new payment exception service will ensure that customers can continue to access cash in their local area.