§ 24. Mr. Watkinsasked the Postmaster-General whether he has considered recently abolishing or reducing the extra charges asked of subscribers who live 1224 three miles or over from a telephone exchange.
§ The Assistant Postmaster-General (Mr. Kenneth Thompson)No, Sir. The present charges for these lines do not cover our costs.
§ Mr. WatkinsIf one accepted that point of view, there would be no concessions made by the Postmaster-General. In view of the fact that this is the only service which has not been looked into recently and improved, will the hon. Gentleman look into it for the sake of dealing with the problem of rural depopulation?
§ Mr. ThompsonWe are aware how troublesome this problem can be in some areas, but we do subsidise this kind of service already.
§ 32. Mr. Sorensenasked the Postmaster-General how many communications or representations he has received from Methodists and other religious organisations in respect of hardships imposed on ministers of religion in the course of their pastoral duties because of the new scale of telephone charges linked with the time limits imposed for local calls.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonRepresentations have been made on behalf of one Methodist Circuit and two individual ministers of religion. The representations were mainly concerned with the general principle of timing local calls.
§ Mr. SorensenWill the hon. Gentleman reply to the communication which I have received from Methodists in my area, explaining why it is that he cannot do as they suggest?
§ Mr. ThompsonYes, Sir. A letter setting out in some detail the reasons which prompted my right hon. Friend to recommend the timing of local calls has been prepared.