§ 18. Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Postmaster-General, whether emergency calls from country telephone subscribers, obliged to dial O in order to make them, have been delayed by the policy of work-to-rule; and what effect it has had on the time taken for a call to reach the police, fire and ambulance services.
§ Mr. BevinsI am glad to say that the telephone service has not been significantly affected by work-to-rule, and I have no knowledge of any delays to emergency calls of the type mentioned by my hon. Friend. If, however, he has any particular case in mind and will let me have details I should be very glad to make inquiries.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonCan my right hon. Friend explain how such callers in need of the fire brigade or the ambulance or police are given priority over callers who merely want a gossip?
§ Mr. BevinsWhether or not we had working-to-rule in operation at the moment, it would still be necessary on certain exchanges for a person wanting to make an emergency call to dial O. It is after a caller has dialled O and the operator knows that the call is an emergency call that priority is given.
§ Mr. W. R. WilliamsWill the right hon. Gentleman, in the light of his hon. Friend's supplementary question, consider further whether it is possible for this way of signalling for priority and 10 emergency services to be introduced on private telephones and even on manual exchanges?
§ Mr. BevinsYes, most certainly, we are moving in that direction all the time.