asked the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received regarding the departmental franking of envelopes containing unemployment benefit.

No representations have been received on this subject. Two types of prepayment of postage are used for envelopes containing unemployment benefit girocheques, the printed postage impression (PPI) by the Department of Health and Social Security for those despatched from their computer centres and the official paid facility by the Department of Employment for girocheques issued from unemployment benefit offices. Both are also used for other types of communication.