HC Deb 01 June 1967 vol 747 cc228-9
14. Mr. Berry

asked the Postmaster-General why an increasingly large number of letters posted in the London postal district on Friday evenings before the last post and addressed to other parts of the district are not reaching their destinations until the following Monday morning.

Mr. Joseph Slater

I am sorry that, due to heavy traffic and a shortage of staff, a very small percentage of such letters are not delivered until Monday. The position is, however, better than it was, and we are doing all we can to improve it still further.

Mr. Berry

Does the Minister not agree that it is very important that, in view of the reduction in the number of deliveries in the London area, letters should arrive on a Saturday morning for those who have business to attend to? Is he aware that a letter which his right hon. Friend sent to me recently suffered a similar fate?

Mr. Slater

Yes. It is only fair to say that millions of letters posted on Friday to places all over the country are delivered first post the next morning. By comparison the number of failures are few but none the less it is regrettable.

Sir W. Bromley-Davenport

Is this not typical of the nationalised industries—less facilities, worse service and increased costs?