§ 28. Mr. Tilneyasked the Postmaster-General what steps he is taking to restore confidence among business men in the provincial cities that their letters will be delivered in London the following day.
Mr. ShortNearly all letters—in fact, over 95 per cent.—for London posted in provincial cities by early evening are delivered the next weekday. There is very little complaint about the quality of this service.
§ Mr. TilneyIs the Postmaster-General aware that some provincial firms which have a large number of documents to send to London have had to resort to using their own couriers? Now that there is competition with public corporations in the sphere of television and airlines, would the right hon. Gentleman agree that the new Post Office Board should have similar competition in the future?
Mr. ShortThe number of complaints that we get is between three and four per million letters. If one takes the traffic between provincial towns and London, over 95 per cent. of it is delivered by the next morning's first post.