§ 10. Mr. Onslowasked the Postmaster-General why 22 extra public relations officers have been appointed by the Post Office since September, 1964.
§ 25. Sir Harmar Nichollsasked the Postmaster-General what duties are performed by the 22 extra public relations officers who have been appointed by his Department since September, 1964.
§ Mr. Edward ShortThey are employed as follows: 15 on the monthly Post Office staff newspaper and the quarterly Post Office Engineering Safety News; 1 on Giro publicity; 2 on public relations in the provinces; and 4 on additional publicity for recruitment, postal coding and other information on the Post Office services.
§ Mr. OnslowWould not the right hon. Gentleman do better to concentrate on restoring the falling standards of the postal and telephone services to ordinary users instead of hiring extra people to misguide the public?
§ Mr. ShortOne of the great needs of industry is to improve communications. This is why we have the Post Office newspaper.
§ Sir Harmar NichollsDoes the right hon. Gentleman think that employing 22 extra public relations officers will persuade the public that the postal and telephone services have not deteriorated, as is set out in Question No. 40?
§ Mr. ShortI do not accept the premise that the services have deteriorated. On the contrary, they have improved. The greater part of these extra public relations officers are employed on the Post Office newspaper, which started last year. It is self-financing, the greater part of it being paid for by subscriptions from the staff. The salaries of these 22 officers do not, therefore, by and large fall on Post Office funds.