§ 26. Mr. Gowerasked the Postmaster-General how many applications for domestic telephones remained unsatisfied 219 at the latest convenient date in England and in Wales, respectively; and how those figures compare with those of a year ago.
§ The Assistant Postmaster-General (Mr. Ray Mawby)Excluding those under inquiry or being met, the numbers of unsatisfied applications for telephone service in England and Wales at 31st March, 1964, were approximately 40,000 and 1,600, respectively. I am sorry that separate figures are not available for residence telephones. These waiting lists have remained virtually unchanged during the past year despite the record level of demand, which rose from 372,000 to 489,000 in England and from 16,000 to 20,000 in Wales. As the plans outlined in the recent White Paper "The Inland Telephone Service in an Expanding Economy" gather momentum, these waiting lists will steadily shrink until, by March 1966, they will have virtually disappeared.