Giro (Hansard, 20 October 1971)

§ 20. Mr. Simon Mahon
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications when he will be in a position to make a statement on the future of Giro in Bootle.

§ 3. Mr. William Hamilton
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he is yet in a position to make a firm statement about the future of Giro.

§ 22. Mr. John D. Grant
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications when Cooper Brothers will have completed their report on the future vialibity of the Giro banking service; whether that report, together with the report of the inter-departmental working party, will be published; and when he will make a statement about the future of Giro following examination of these reports.

§ Mr. Chataway
I am urgently considering the views of the consultants and Post Office comments on them, which I have now received. I hope to make a statement soon.

§ Mr. Mahon
I appreciate the difficulty in which the right hon. Gentleman finds himself, but I remind him that Merseyside has 50,000 people unemployed and that 3,500 people in my constituency are employed by Giro. These people have been very patient and are very anxious. Why are we waiting so long? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that all the E.E.C. countries have Giro banks and control in their countries? Can I be assured that after 28th October we will have a viable and prosperous Giro organisation in this country?

§ Mr. Chataway
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's anxiety in this matter. I assure him that I share a number of his concerns. Over these past months I have been intent upon trying to find some basis upon which the Giro could eventually break even. It is in pursuit of that objective that I have had the advice of Cooper Brothers on a number of unresolved financial questions.

§ Mr. Grant
The right hon. Gentleman has not answered the point that I raised in my Question about publication of the report. Will he bear in mind that any further procrastination in the matter can only continue to damage the viability of the undertaking, that several thousand jobs are at stake, and that there is grave anxiety among members of the staff of Giro because they are concerned that the Government should not seek to carry out another U.C.S.-style exercise on Giro?

§ Mr. Chataway
No procrastination is involved. It would be contrary to all precedent to publish confidential advice from officials. Certainly it is not usual to publish confidential reports by consultants, which must necessarily be frank in commenting on people and things.

§ Sir J. Langford-Holt
Will my right hon. Friend draw the attention of Giro to the fact that it is in danger of losing many customers, including me, because of the incomprehensibility of some of its cheque forms, which seem to go out of their way to differ as far as possible from those used in the banking system familiar to us all?

§ Mr. Chataway
I am sure that the Post Office will take note of my hon. Friend's observations.