First-class Mail (Hansard, 19 April 1972)

§ 2. Mr. Tilney
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what percentage of first-class letters is now being delivered on the following day.

§ 6. Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will make a statement on the survey recently carried out by the Post Office Users National Council on the efficiency of the first-class mail service, details of which are in his possession.

§ 8. Mr. Ewing
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what representations were made to him by the Post Office Users National Council as a result of the survey relating to the letter delivery service.

§ 10. Mr. William Price
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what percentage of first-class letters was being delivered the day after posting at the last available date.

§ 16. Mr. Charles R. Morris
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what discussions he has had with the Post Office Corporation on the Report of the Post Office Users National Council of its monitoring exercise on the delivery of first-class mail.

§ Sir J. Eden
No representations have been made by the Post Office Users National Council since its survey. Obviously statistics vary according to the particlar sampling method, but the Post Office is determined to work for continuing improvement in mail delivery throughout the country.

§ Mr. Tilney
I, too, wish my right hon. Friend much success in his new post. Is he aware that there is a percentage of first-class mail which is not delivered the following day and that many provincial firms have to employ couriers to take their mail to other parts of the country? Is it not time that the Post Office considered means whereby it could ensure for a premium that a letter posted one day was delivered the next?

§ Sir J. Eden
I think my hon. Friend recognises that there will always be some letters which will not be delivered the next day for particular reasons but, so far as it is possible, it is the purpose of the Post Office to eliminate delay. I am 480 satisfied of that. It very much depends also on the time at which many of these letters are posted. Some of them are posted after the last moment at which first delivery next day would be possible.

§ Mr. Ewing
I add my congratulations to the right hon. Gentleman. His success will depend largely on his own efforts, as the success of all postal workers depends on their own efforts. The guarantee of delivery of a letter depends a great deal on a happy workforce—a workforce not cut back in the manner which this workforce has been cut back in recent years—and even more on the speeding-up of the postal mechanisation programme promised earlier, in order that services can achieve the efficiency to which everyone who works for the postal service is dedicated.

§ Sir J. Eden
The programme of mechanisation is going ahead well and it is in no way being held up, as the hon. Gentleman well knows. The main objective, which the whole House shares, is that there should be the most efficient possible service of mail delivery, and it motivates all ranks in the Post Office.

§ Mr. Price
Would the right hon. Gentleman be good enough to confirm what his predecessor said on several occasions, that the Post Office is operating one of the most efficient and cheapest postal services anywhere in the world——

§ Mr. Fell
Really!

§ Mr. Price
Why do you not shut your mouth, just for once?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman should address the Chair.

§ Mr. Price
That was not meant for the Chair. There is no doubt for whom it was intended. It was not for the first time and no doubt will not be the last.

§ Mr. Speaker
I call upon the Minister to reply.

§ Mr. Price
I have not asked my supplementary question, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker
I am under constant pressure from hon. Members to get through Questions more quickly. The hon. Member should not make personal remarks.

§ Mr. Price
On a point of order. My supplementary question had been in order until then and I had not finished it.

§ Mr. Speaker
Will the hon. Gentleman now put his supplementary question succinctly?

§ Mr. Price
Does the right hon. Gentleman accept the Post Office figure of 94 per cent. or does he accept the figure of other organisations which is much lower?

§ Sir J. Eden
It is not for me to accept or reject any figure. I am determined, with the assistance of the Post Office, to bring about a steady improvement in the standard of service.

§ Mr. Speaker
I understand that the microphones are not working. Would hon. Members please speak up.

§ Mr. Morris
Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that if he were to accept the figure produced by the Post Office Users National Council of 82 per cent. it makes suspect the system used by the Post Office which produced a figure of 94 per cent.? Is he satisfied that the system of monitoring used by the Post Office is efficient and is producing the right results?

§ Sir J. Eden
That is why I referred in my answer to the first supplementary question to the different methods of sampling. The Post Office has used one method regularly on a month-by-month basis. The council's survey was more limited and was restricted to certain months in the year, October and February to be precise. All these surveys show that there is still room for improvement and I hope I have been able to reassure the House that it will be the objective of the Post Office to continue improving the service of mail delivery throughout the country.

§ Mr. Gregor Mackenzie
May I, as one who seldom if ever has agreed with a word that the Minister has said—and I cannot think of a nicer thing for a Socialist to say to a Tory—offer my congratulations to the right hon. Gentleman for a happy if short term of office? No matter how the figures were arrived at, is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there has been a deterioration, albeit minimal, in the service provided? Is 482 he aware that this is not the fault of the postmen? Is he prepared to give me the assurance which was given by his predecessor and will he look at the mechanisation investment programme once again to see whether in the light of delivery surveys and by increasing employment he can accelerate this?

§ Sir J. Eden
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks, even if they were somewhat circumscribed. I look forward to seeing him opposite me for a long time to come. I can assure him that not only will I look afresh at the mechanisation programme but I will keep under review the total investment programme of the Post Office.

§ 23. Mr. Whitehead
asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will issue a general direction to the Post Office to improve the number of letters bearing first-class franking which are delivered at their destination on the following day.

§ Sir J. Eden
No, Sir. The Post Office is making every effort towards that end.

§ Mr. Whitehead
Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the discontent which has been expressed in the House today merits such a directive, but that if a directive were to be issued the Post Office would almost certainly tell him that letters would be delivered more speedily if there were more and better paid postment? In view of the present structural unemployment in the economy, should we not be expanding the service industries, particularly the Post Office?

§ Sir J. Eden
No, this is not a matter of numbers or of pay. The rate of delivery at the first post is very high, as hon. Members recognise, but large numbers of people do not get letters delivered when they expect to do so and think this arises primarily out of the establishment of the two-tier system. The Post Office is constantly looking at this matter to seek ways of improving delivery.

§ Mr. Arthur Lewis
Will the right hon. Gentleman explain why it has been necessary for me to report to the Chairman of the Post Office Board and the officials concerned first-class letters sent from County Hall to the Palace of Westminster which have taken four days to deliver? 483 If the letters were dropped in the street they would sometimes arrive more quickly.

§ Sir J. Eden
As the hon. Gentleman will know, the Post Office Users National Council's report which has just been made available emphasises that this is a management matter for the Post Office. This it must be, and I hope the hon. Gentleman will bring these matters to the attention of the Post Office.

§ Mr. Lewis
I have done so.

§ Sir J. Eden
I assure the hon. Gentleman and the House that no one, least of all myself as Minister, is in any way sanguine about this, but we must realise that there are 16 million first-class letters a day being delivered, which is a very substantial number.