§ 32. Mr. Grimondasked the Postmaster-General how many subscribers were asked their views before he decided to break the London telephone directory into 36 volumes.
§ 34. Mr. Bryanasked the Postmaster-General if he will give instructions for the present scale of directory distribution in the London area to be continued.
§ 35. Mr. Goodhartasked the Postmaster-General if he will now continue 2124 the present organisation of the London telephone directory.
§ 38. Mr. Moonmanasked the Postmaster-General what will be the policy in the proposed reorganisation scheme of the London telephone service regarding the use of directory inquiries; and what will be the charge per call for this service.
§ Mr. MasonThe proposals for London directories have been widely misinterpreted. We now have four inner London books and five outer London books. They are growing rapidly and by 1975 will be twice their present size. Their size is discouraging people from using them. The average Londoner makes most calls in his borough and its surrounding areas, and to places such as public services, department stores and places of entertainment. We think we can improve the present system. We have made a start with the Gerater London Business Directory which lists businesses throughout Greater London. We now propose 36 directories to replace the present nine, each covering a London borough and a wide surrounding area. Each book will also include 5,000 of the most frequently wanted numbers from all over London. If a customer wants a book of another district of London he can have it, free. He can hold them all if he wants to. One book will cover the City and the West End and will undoubtedly be popular. Backing this system will be the directory enquiry service, free unless the caller has inadequate information. There will be some firms and people who need information about every subscriber throughout London. For them we shall produce an integrated list of all subscribers in Greater London.
We have already discussed the plan with the Post Office Users' Council, the Greater London Council, the London Boroughs Association, and the London Chamber of Commerce, and received general support. I propose to have an independent survey of public opinion before reaching an irrevocable decision.
§ Mr. BryanThe right hon. Gentleman has just said that he intends to have an inquiry into public opinion before he takes a final decision. Is he really telling us that he is still in doubt as to what public opinion is on this subject? I 2125 understand that the present set of directories—the comprehensive set—costs £1 1s.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Questions must be reasonably brief.
§ Mr. BryanI will be brief, Mr. Speaker. The present set cost £1 1s. in total and I understand that the new set of 36 books cost 4s. each, which comes to £7 4s. Where does the economy come in?
§ Mr. MasonThe rather shallow opinion polls carried out recently were about the present system. We are talking about a system which is to be evolved and ready in four years time. We want to be able to talk particularly to residential subscribers about how they feel about the fact that the directories will grow in size and how best they think they could use them. The idea is to provide subscribers with a tailor-made directory purposely designed. Incidentally, we do not charge for directories. They are free.
§ Mr. GoodhartDoes not the right hon. Gentleman realise that the proposed reorganisation of the directories will coincide with the introduction of all-number dialling in London, thus presenting telephone users with a double calamity? If he had been able to keep it secret—instead it was revealed by the Press—when did the right hon. Gentleman plan to tell the public about this lamentable scheme?
§ Mr. MasonThe hon. Gentleman is intervening in a subject of which he knows little. If he had read last year's Post Office Accounts he would have known that this scheme was referred to there and particularly by the Post Office Users' Council.