HC Deb 14 May 1963 vol 677 cc1112-4
16. Mr. Hector Hughes

asked the Postmaster-General if he will make a statement on the effect which railway station closures recommended by the Beeching Report will have on postal services in north-east Scotland, particularly Aberdeen.

Mr. Mawby

It is too early to say what the precise effects of the railway changes would be on mail services in north-east Scotland, but we believe that we should be able largely to maintain the present standard of service.

Mr. Hughes

That Answer shows that it is always too early or too late for the Government to redeem the promises that were made to Scotland to develop trade, industry and commerce there, much of which depends upon the proper co-ordination not only of the Post Office services but also of the transport services. Will the right hon. Gentleman, therefore, consult the President of the Board of Trade and the Secretary of State for Scotland in order to ensure that that proper co-ordination is achieved and that the trade, industry and commerce and employment of the north of Scotland is developed as the Government promised?

Mr. Mawby

As the hon. and learned Gentleman already knows, my right hon. Friends are not remote from one another and discussions go on regularly, particularly with regard to these problems. The question that the hon. and learned Gentleman asked me does in fact impinge upon our future prospects as a Post Office in performing our service, and I have tried to give him the answer which best suits the question.

Mr. John MacLeod

Does not the Answer to this and the previous Question on the Kyle of Lochalsh show that there was no consultation at all between his Ministry and the Ministry of Transport, and will he say, if there was consultation, what consultation there was?

Mr. Mawby

The normal consultation, of course, is the answer. In this matter, as one must see it, this is a proposal put forward by the chairman of a nationalised board and it is a matter in which a number of consultations will obviously have to take place and are, indeed, taking place. The question relates to our future supplying of a service.

Mr. Manuel

Would the hon. Gentleman give a straight reply to the question that has been asked. What assessment has taken place, arising from discussions between his right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General, the Minister of Transport and the Secretary of State for Scotland? Are they convinced that in these areas where rail closures are to take place they will get the mails through during certain winter months, and are the roads suitable for road delivery and conveyance to replace the present rail conveyance?

Mr. Mawby

So far as we are concerned, we are satisfied that our services will in the main be as reliable—[HON. MEMBERS: "In the main?"]—in the future as in the past. There have been in the past very few occasions on which mails could be carried by rail and not by road.