asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number and value of the Giro cheques, commonly known as green Giros issued by his Department during each of the financial years ended March 1977 and March 1978, including those cheques processed by his Department as agents for other Government Departments and public bodies.

The information requested is as follows:

	Number of Girocheques	Value
1976–77	113 million	£2,250 million
1977–78 (Provisional)	117 million	£2,665 million

Apart from cheques issued by my department, the only other giros using the Department's accounting and reconciliation processes are those issued by the Department of Employment Group.