§ MR. STEADMAN (Finsbury, Central)On behalf of the hon. Member for Deptford I beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the amount of systematic overtime that the sorters and letter-carriers at the General Post Office (E.C.) are called upon to work; and, if so, whether he will 878 consider the desirability of creating a sufficient number of new established posts in order to reduce such overtime work to a minimum.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONThis is a matter which receives constant attention. Unfortunately a certain amount of overtime has to be performed by sorters and postmen, due to the intermittent character of extra work arising from foreign and Colonial mail arrivals, heavy postings, etc. Every opportunity is taken to reduce overtime by the employment of additional established officers; and considerable improvements of this nature were made quite recently in the E.C. district.