§ 67. Sir Waldron Smithersasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an estimate of the cost to the taxpayer in staff, wear and tear of equipment, and paper and postage, of answering 1,125,000 letters a month.
§ Mr. BelcherThe figure of 1,225,000 letters a month covers the whole of the Board of Trade's correspondence, including statistical returns and applications for licences, patents, payment of war damage, and so forth. I regret that I can give no estimate of the over-all cost of answering this correspondence, since the proportion of staff time devoted to this purpose varies so widely according to subject. The cost incurred by the Board for letter paper, envelopes and postage is estimated at about £105,000 a year.
§ Sir W. SmithersCannot the Minister see that it is quite impossible to control the details of everyone's private life and business from Whitehall, and that nationalisation is breaking down, especially in the administration?
§ Mr. BelcherI can only assure the hon. Gentleman that we have no desire whatever to control anyone's private life. All we are concerned with is answering the legitimate inquiries of the public.
§ Sir W. Smithers; Am I in Order, Mr. Speaker, in asking whether the answer given by the hon. Gentleman to the effect that he does not know the expense of this is not most disgraceful?