HC Deb 20 October 1971 vol 823 cc702-3
13. Mrs. Joyce Butler

asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will give a general direction to the Post Office to improve the special equipment required to trace telephone calls so that offensive or threatening calls may be traced.

Mr. Chataway

No, Sir. This is a technical matter within the Post Office's managerial responsibilities.

Mrs. Butler

Is it not shocking that people are able to make nuisance calls involving threats of all kinds—which can be extremely upsetting—apparently without anyone's being able to trace them in less than 18 months, the time which elapsed in a recent case involving 300 such calls? Cannot we do better than that? These calls are worrying many people.

Mr. Chataway

I appreciate that calls of this kind cause a great deal of anguish. When the Post Office and police are alerted they do all in their power to trace the calls. The Post Office has some well-tried methods of limiting or deterring calls of this sort.

Mr. Tilney

One of my constituents had hundreds of such calls within a few months. In this technological age, is it not possible to have some means whereby a subscriber can alert an engineer in his or her exchange, so that the call can be traced?

Mr. Chataway

My hon. Friend probably knows that if the Post Office and the police are alerted in such cases it is possible to detect the source of the calls.

Mr. Simon Mahon

Does the Minister acknowledge the desirability of advising subscribers that they should use only initials rather than a fuller name or description in telephone directories? That can save a great deal of inconvenience and difficulty, particularly for ladies.

Mr. Chataway

I am sure that subscribers and potential subscribers will take note of that advice.