§ 33. Mr. Mathewasked the Postmaster-General if he will now reconsider his decision to curtail Saturday postal collections and deliveries during the summer holiday season in the towns of Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth and Seaton.
§ The Postmaster-General (Mr. Ernest Marples)No, Sir; I should not be justified in making a special exception of these towns. Mail formerly delivered by the second post on Saturday is available to people who need it if they call at the Post Office. Collections are still being made at the same time as before from the posting boxes at post offices in the towns.
§ Mr. MathewDoes my right hon. Friend appreciate that a large number of visitors during the summer months come to all these resorts from the Midlands and Northern England, and, of course, they cannot avail themselves of the slight concession he has made unless they know that a letter is coming? Will he look into the matter once again, in view of the special needs in this area? Further, will he state what progress has been made in the tempo of service from those parts since the days when we relied on horse-drawn traffic for mail collection and delivery?
§ Mr. MarplesThe real difficulty about a second collection on Saturday stems from trying to give the Civil Service generally, and the Post Office in particular, the same pay and conditions as obtain in outside industry. So long as we try to do that, we shall always come up against these difficulties.