§ 41. Mr. Haymanasked the Postmaster-General what proportion of public telephone kiosks pay their way; and to what extent the remainder is subsidised by the general revenue of the telephone service.
§ Mr. MarplesIt is estimated broadly that rather less than one-third of all telephone call offices pay their way. The net loss on all call offices is currently about £3 million per annum.
§ Mr. HaymanIs the Minister aware that his Department recently refused a telephone kiosk in a working-class district of Camborne, Cornwall, on the grounds that the general telephone service would probably not pay its way? Is he also aware that this is a working-class area with few private telephones, and will he look into this matter again?
§ Mr. MarplesWe try to reconcile commercial prospects, as it were, with the public need and the fact that, on balance, 387 we meet the public need is shown by the £3 million loss made on call offices. So generally we are looking after the public need. I will look into this particular case again and write to the hon. Gentleman.
§ 42. Mr. Haymanasked the Postmaster-General to what extent the lack of adequate financial resources is hampering the development of the telephone service; and when he expects the service to be free from financial difficulties.
§ Mr. MarplesNaturally I wish that more investment could be allowed for development of the telephone service, but the reduction of the waiting list from 230,000 to 60,000 during the past three years shows that at any rate we are getting on. The answer to the second part of the hon. Member's Question depends on Government decisions about future investment, which I cannot anticipate.
§ Mr. HaymanCan we have an assurance from the Postmaster-General that the financial difficulties of which the Parliamentary Secretary wrote to me exist within the Government and not with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in dealing with the financial state of the country?
§ Mr. MarplesOur job in the Post Office is to get the best value for the money which we are allowed to receive for capital investment. We would all like to get more—railways, schools and hospitals—but the fact that the waiting list has gone down so dramatically shows that we are getting our share.