§ 6. Mr. Gowerasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the difficulties caused for industrial firms and for commercial organisations and their representatives by lateness of postal deliveries in many areas; and if he will state his plans for dealing with the difficulties which have arisen.
§ The Postmaster-General (Mr. Anthony Wedgwood Benn)We aim to make deliveries early enough to meet the wishes of industry and commerce, but it is not always practicable to do so. If the hon. Gentleman will give me details of cases where the time of delivery is causing difficulties I will gladly look into the matter.
§ Mr. GowerIs the Postmaster-General aware that since this Question was tabled it has been made clear that this is a matter of profound concern to the organisation of commercial travellers throughout the United Kingdom? I hope that he will consider the matter carefully.
§ Mr. BennAs a result of a previous representation made by the hon. Member one of his constituents was able to get his mail half an hour earlier. The difficulty is that if completion of the night mail delivery is to be made at an earlier hour an enormous amount of manpower must be occupied in making deliveries, and we have to strike a balance between costs and service in this regard.
§ Mr. BryanTo what extent can the right hon. Gentleman report an improvement in the services for dealing with mail to and from abroad? This has been 1238 a failure which has brought a lot of frustration to our exporters.
§ Mr. BennThat is a separate question, to which I should like to give a measured answer. One of the difficulties with mail to and from abroad is that delays do not always occur in this country. There certainly was some difficulty two or three months ago, but there has been a substantial improvement recenly.