§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the fact that while the Fiftieth Report of the Postmaster-General, which, in accordance with the provisions of The Savings Banks Act, 1904, omitted a valuation of the securities held by the Post Office Savings Bank Fund, did nevertheless contain a detailed statement of the Terminable Annuities held, subsequent reports do not contain such a detailed statement, but, in lieu thereof, a mere statement of the aggregate amount of annuities operating to replace stock, and annuities operating to replace cash; 1546 much stress must not be laid on the totals, as in some cases several complaints related to the same matter, and there are others in which it may be doubtful whether an actual increase of rate in the sense of the Act of 1894 was involved.
will he explain why the details given in the Fiftieth Report have been omitted from subsequent Reports; and will he consider the question of giving in his forthcoming Report a detailed statement of these annuities.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The statement of the nature and amount of the securities held for the Savings Bank, which is inserted in the Postmaster-General's Report, is, as stated in the Report, an extract from the statutory Return presented to Parliament each year by the Treasury. The Postmaster-General, therefore, is not responsible for settling the form in which the statement is drawn up.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLTo ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the difference between the amount of withdrawals from the Post Office Savings Bank in the year 1906, estimated by him on 11th April, 1907, as £43,804,500, and the amount stated in the Postmaster-General's Fifty-third Report, viz., £43,763,002; and will he explain how the difference arose, and why, more than three months after the closing of the books, the correct amount of the withdrawals had not been ascertained within £40,000.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) The amount of withdrawals stated in the Postmaster-General's Report represents the value of the warrants issued in the course of the year. This figure is not usually made up until all the transactions for each quarter have been finally proved. The estimated figure given in reply to the hon. Member for Finsbury on 11th April, was based, as regards the last quarter of the year, on the withdrawals actually paid by postmasters in that period, a figure which is available immediately. The difference of £40,000 is due to an unusual variation between the value of the warrants issued but not yet presented at the beginning and end of that quarter respectively.