HC Deb 19 October 1966 vol 734 cc197-8
25. Mr. Gresham Cooke

asked the Postmaster-General what consideration he has given to naming the new code system for letters the Zip Code so as to fall in line with practice in the United States of America.

Mr. Short

It would not be appropriate to do as the hon. Member suggests. The Zonal Improvement Plan, or Zip scheme, came after the experimental introduction of postal codes at Norwich and, unlike our coding system, was not designed specifically for automatic sorting purposes. It is in fact to facilitate manual sorting; our system is to help with automatic sorting.

Mr. Gresham Cooke

Would the right hon. Gentleman consider giving his new code system some short, snappy name such as I have suggested, rather than selecting a sort of bureaucratic Socialist word?

Mr. Short

We could certainly consider giving a short name. I am all in favour of short names.