§ 9. Mrs. Knightasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications how many metered units of telephone calls were recorded by the Post Office in the last accounting year.
§ Sir J. EdenThe Post Office does not maintain national summaries of metered call units but it tells me that the number of such units in 1971–72 was of the order of 30,000 million.
§ Mrs. KnightCan my right hon. Friend categorically deny a rumour that is current in the Birmingham area, that the meters used for recording calls go up only to 100,000 and then return to nil? Is he aware that many firms and industries in the West Midlands make many overseas calls and that therefore the meter should be going round very quickly? I have been informed that of two that have been checked, one goes around one and a half times in a 13-week period, thus losing the GPO about £4,000 a year and the other, with a much bigger rate of calls, loses about £56,000, plus extra for the Inland Revenue on VAT? Will he consider this matter in preference to allowing telephone charges to go up?
§ Sir J. EdenThere are problems such as my hon. Friend has described. The Post Office keeps a check on leases of any customers whose consumption rises to 6,000 units or more, and it is also at present conducting trials of a six-digit meter. It hopes to introduce a wider 1116 system of interim readings as well—that is, given extra computer time—during next year.