HC Deb 28 June 1972 vol 839 cc1422-4
10. Mr. Derapsey

asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what is the total number of persons now waiting for residential telephones; and what is the average waiting period.

Sir J. Eden

The Post Office informs me about 211,000 residential applicants were on the waiting list for telephones at the end of May. In 1971–72 the Post Office connected 1.3 million subscribers to the network, two-thirds within 20 days. Those placed on the waiting list had to wait on average about five months.

Mr. Dempsey

Is the Minister aware that a large number of people in my constituency have to wait nearly two years for telephones, in spite of the Herculean efforts of our excellent telephone manager, Mr. J. E. Dadswell? Is the Minister aware that this delay is apparently due to lack of cable? May I repeat my request for a factory to be established in Coatbridge and Airdrie to manufacture this cable and reduce the waiting period to a bare minimum?

Sir J. Eden

I am aware that two of the hon. Gentlemen's constituents are known to have been on the waiting list for a period of nearly two years. I agree with him that that is a very long time indeed. I know that every effort is being made by the Post Office to try to correct this position.

Mr. Selwyn Gummer

If one sees advertisements daily which suggest that one should make great use of one's telephone, when one has been quoted nearly two years as the shortest waiting period—as happens to people in my constituency—one gets very cross with the telephone authorities and probably with the Minister. Will my right hon. Friend do his best to see that this period is cut during the next year so that people are not advertised at to use a service which they are longing to use but are unable to use?

Sir J. Eden

I accept what my hon. Friend has said. There is nothing more frustrating that having been encouraged to install a telephone and to find that one has to wait what one regards as an over-long period for its installation. The fact remains, however—and we must recognise this—that the Post Office has every year been substantially increasing the number of telephones installed. What it has not yet matched is the very much larger increase in the rate of demand.

Mr. David Stoddart

Will the Minister say to what extent the hold-up is caused by the delay in manufacturers providing exchange equipment?

Sir J. Eden

There are a number of reasons for the delays. They arise from under-estimation of demand in the first instance, from delay in the completion of building work or the provision of lines, and from the very serious delays in the delivery and installation of exchange equipment. In the past all these have contributed to the build-up of the waiting lists and both I and the Post Office are determined to improve on the situation. No one is sitting back on it.

Mr. Idris Owen

Is my right hon. Friend aware that in my constituency in this year of our Lord 1972 over 500 applicants for telephones have been waiting an interminable time and the excuse he gives has been given by his distinguished predecessors from time immemorial? It is time these weak excuses ceased to be given quite as regularly. May I respectfully suggest that from now on we introduce telephones into new housing estates in the way we introduce electricity, gas and water?

Sir J. Eden

In reassuring my hon. Friend I can only repeat that no one is the least complacent about the situation. The position is very much the reverse. I am as anxious as everyone in the Post Office and in the manufacturing industry to see a steady improvement.

Mr. Gregor Mackenzie

May I suggest to the Minister, as we suggested to his predecessor for many months, that the problem is basically that of investment? When does he intend to carry out the promise made by his predecessor to look at the whole problem of telecommunications investment anew and when does he hope that the delays will end?

Sir J. Eden

My predecessor anounced in the House on 1st March that the Post Office was to increase its investment programme by £100 million to help meet rising demand and also, incidentally, to help reduce unemployment in particular areas. I cannot forecast when this situation of over-long waiting lists will change. But I hope I can impress upon the House that no one is hanging back and that there is a concerted effort to try to improve on it.