Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan has admitted that the requirement for people to confirm they are entitled to benefits is preventing some payments being sent directly into bank accounts.

Currently single parent benefit and job seekers allowance is only paid in cash, whereas claimants of any other benefits can have the money deposited into their accounts.

Lawrie Hooper (Lib Vannin, Ramsey) asked Mr Cannan in this week’s Keys sitting why the Treasury makes these two sets of claimants attend in person.

Mr Cannan said that these claimants were required to attend in person ’to ensure they sign the appropriate declarations’.

When pushed for further reasoning, he added: ’Unfortunately, historical evidence is that one of the highest areas of risk of fraud that has happened within the social security division is when lone parents have failed to tell social security that their partner has in fact moved into their abode with them.’

It is believed within Treasury that by making lone parents sign a declaration when they collect their benefit, it ’encourages honesty’ within the system.

Kate Costain (Lib Vannin, Douglas South) asked whether the singling out of lone parents could fall foul of the Equality Act.

However Mr Cannan said he was confident that it didn’t and that if anyone required other means to have their benefit paid to them ’individual arrangements could be made’.

In response to further questions from Mr Hooper, Mr Cannan said the Treasury is looking to implement a system before the end of this year which should allow all benefits to be paid into bank accounts.

However, he added that it would only come into force once ’other taxpayer protections’ can be put into place to ensure that the people who claim benefits are entitled to them.