§ 40. Sir Stanley Reedasked the Assistant Postmaster General if he will give an assurance that, when any food parcels received from overseas are detained, the General Post Office will communicate with the addressees.
§ The Assistant Postmaster-General (Mr. Burke)All parcels sent to this country from overseas have to be produced to the Customs for examination, and I am advised that whenever a food parcel is detained by the Customs Department as not complying with Import restrictions a notification is sent to the addressee by that Department.
§ Sir S. ReedWhat becomes of the parcels which are sent and disappear without any notification to the addressee?
§ Mr. BurkeI presume that if an address is on the parcel the addressee is notified. If they are not addressed, they should be returned to the Lost Parcels Department of the Post Office.
§ Sir Ralph GlynIs the hon. Gentleman aware that parcels sent from British Dominions and Colonies containing food disappear, and the only knowledge the intended recipients have is a letter from their relatives to say that they have been sent? Can some inquiries be made as to what is happening to those parcels?