§ 10. Mr. Gurdenasked the Postmaster-General (1) what is the cost, including letter post charges, of handling payments for wayleave of very small amounts;
(2) what rearrangement he will make to pay very small items of payment for telephone wayleave; and if he will arrange credits on telephone accounts instead of posting drafts for them.
§ Mr. Joseph SlaterWayleave payments of up to £5 are made by postal draft and cost some 2s. to handle, including postage. To arrange a credit on telephone acounts would, at this stage, be an undesirable complication of our billing procedures, and cannot yet be proved to be a cheaper alternative.
§ Mr. GurdenIs the hon. Gentleman aware that this cost of 2s. is involved in the issue of many thousands of payments of not more than 1s., one of which I have here? It is a very uneconomic procedure. Will he consider making payments over a period, for instance, of five years? Since we are all being asked to increase productivity, will not the hon. Gentleman look at his own Department?
§ Mr. SlaterI agree that the cost is disproportionate to the payment in some cases but this is money spent in acknowledging the co-operation of the public which we greatly appreciate, and in the aggregate it is not really much—about £9,000 a year. Many wayleave granters have waived payment altogether while others prefer regular payment, although this is not necessary, to safeguard their legal rights of property.