The Department for the Economy has admitted a “very small number” of High Street Voucher cards have been sent out with the wrong people’s names on them.
The news emerged after an MLA said he had been contacted by constituents who had received cards meant for other people.
Alliance rep Stewart Dickson said the “potential security breach in the roll out of the High Street Voucher scheme is absolutely unacceptable”.
He added the Minister must now give “urgent reassurance that this mistake will be fully investigated in order to deliver public confidence in the scheme”.
Share your views on the scheme here or below:
He added: “I have already taken this up with the Department this morning as there is no telling just how far reaching these mistakes go. I am currently awaiting an official response - which includes how these mistakes can be quickly rectified, compounded by the fact there is not central helpline designed to help those with questions and concerns.”
But the Department insisted the issue has been resolved.
A spokesman said: “More than 1.1 million people have submitted an application for a Spend Local card under the High Street Scheme. Over 987,000 of those have been verified and the first 100,000 Spend Local cards have this week been issued to successful applicants, with more to follow in the coming weeks.
“We are aware of a very small number of cases where successful applicants under the High Street Scheme have received a correctly addressed letter with a Spend Local card attached that bears the wrong name. Working with the card issuer, we have established how this occurred and the card issuer will rectify these cases as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.
“Should anyone receive a Spend Local card that does not have the correct name on it, we ask them to email SpendLocalNI@economy-ni.gov.uk or phone the customer care line on the Spend Local letter, and the matter will be resolved.”
For the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter here.
