§ 11. Mr. Proctorasked the Assistant Postmaster-General the amount of loss sustained during the last 12 months of old currency notes being transported for destruction, new currency notes, and registered mail, respectively, together with the total claims made on the Post Office for losses; and the total liability for losses accepted by the Post Office, respectively.
§ Mr. GammansI regret I cannot give answers to the questions raised by the hon. Gentleman in the exact form in which he asks them. The Post Office would not know when accepting registered packets from banks what is in the packets, but we understand that normally the percentage of old notes to new is relatively small. The total estimated loss of currency due 983 to mailbag thefts for the year ending 30th September last was £290,000, but the liability for these losses which falls on the Post Office is only about £5,000.
The Post Office does not keep centrally any record of claims in respect of general losses, but in the financial year 1951–52 the amount paid in compensation for losses of registered letters and parcels was nearly £73,000.
§ Mr. ProctorDoes the hon. Gentleman recollect that the last time I put a similar Question he suggested that it was only a small percentage of the letters in which old notes were involved? Has he had an opportunity of looking at the suggestion that was made for the cancellation of these notes before they pass through the Post Office, and would he like to receive a copy of a letter from a bank manager, which I have here, which commends the suggestion I made to him on the last occasion?
§ Mr. GammansI am always delighted to receive any sort of letter from the hon. Gentleman, but, regarding the defacement of notes, it would not be a matter for the Post Office, but would have to be decided as between the banks and the Treasury.
§ Mr. W. R. WilliamsIs the Minister satisfied that the safety precautions taken by the services which assist the Post Office to carry on their business are as good as he would wish them to be?
§ Mr. GammansNo safety precautions are ever as good as anyone would like them to be, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman and the House that we are very much alive to the need for tightening up the whole basis of security, in view of what has happened, not only in regard to the Post Office but in other directions, in the past year.