HC Deb 21 May 1973 vol 857 c5
3. Mr. Pavitt

asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will issue a general direction to the Post Office that special consideration should be given to the availability of services for the disabled.

Sir J. Eden

No, Sir. The Post Office already does what it can to meet the special needs of the disabled.

Mr. Pavitt

I am grateful to the Minister for writing to me so fully on this subject, and to his Department for probing it. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in 1964, when I raised the question of the charge made to the deaf for the transistorised handset, the Labour Government reduced it by 33⅓ per cent.? For the rest of the telephone service the Post Office has an equalisation system under which the subscriber is charged the same amount whether he lives in the outer Hebrides or London? Why, therefore is there a differential charge for the deaf? As £3 is charged for altering an ordinary set to a transistorised set—a charge that must produce only a piffling amount in total—will the right hon. Gentleman seek to get the Post Office to change the arrangement?

Sir J. Eden

An aid specially tailored to meet the needs of a particular form of disablement can readily be identified. Then it is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services and the local authorities concerned to operate the powers they already have under the various relevant Acts. Where a device is of more general application, as in the case of amplified receivers, which would be available not only to those who are hard of hearing but to those in other circumstances, I think it is right that the Post Office should operate on a commercial basis and seek to cover its costs.

Mr. Pavitt

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the Minister's reply, I beg to give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.