Post Office (Hansard, 20 June 1990)

§ 8. Miss Hoey
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met the chairman of the Post Office to discuss the state of industrial relations.

§ Mr. Forth
Industrial relations are a matter for the Post Office, its employees, and their trade unions.

§ Miss Hoey
In view of the difficulty that the Post Office has both in recruiting and retaining postal workers, will the Minister meet the chairman of the Post Office urgently and make sure that the increased postal charges that have recently been announced are used not to prop up the profits of the Post Office but to improve the services to people—and particularly to improve the working conditions and pay of the many thousands of loyal postal workers in this country?

§ Mr. Forth
The hon. Lady will be delighted to know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I meet the chairman of the Post Office and his colleagues regularly to keep in touch with the efforts that the Post Office is making to do precisely what she asks—to maintain a consistent investment policy and ensure that pay rewards to employees are sufficient to attract and retain employees of a suitable quality to enable the Post Office to provide an acceptable level of service to the people of Britain. The Post Office can demonstrate considerable success in this matter, and I am sure that the hon. Lady will join me in wishing it well in the continuation of that programme.

§ Mr. Gow
As industrial relations in the privatised industries have been much better than those in the nationalised industries, will my hon. Friend take this opportunity to reaffirm that the Government are still considering the possibility of introducing a measure of privatisation and competition into the collection and delivery of letters?

§ Mr. Forth
My hon. Friend knows that the Department is constantly reviewing ways in which improvements can be brought about in organisations such as the Post Office. That is a continuing process. But in the short term, we must look to the management and employees of the Post Office to sustain improvements in their quality of service so that requests such as that made by my hon. Friend will be muted and can continue to be put in their place.

Mr. Ewing
Can the Minister confirm that when he was a Back Bencher he supported privatisation of the royal mail, whereas now that he is Minister responsible for the Post Office, he has changed his mind and there is now no possibility—we are all grateful for this—of the privatisation of the royal mail?

§ Mr. Forth
I shall share a secret with the hon. Gentleman: remarkable things happen when one is translated from the Back Benches to the Dispatch Box and if, from time to time, the hon. Gentleman has noticed the tiniest change in my demeanour, he should not be too surprised.

§ Mr. John Marshall
Is my hon. Friend aware that no postal collections are taking place in my constituency today? He has frequently said that the Post office monopoly is a privilege, not a right. Does he accept that many Conservative Members believe that that privilege should be taken away?

§ Mr. Forth
I am aware of the difficulties in my hon. Friend's constituency. I repeat what I said at the beginning: neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I have—or will have—any responsibility for industrial relations. I must emphasise, however, that every time unofficial action is taken that prejudices the level of service given by the Post Office, it weakens the argument that most Opposition Members will wish to advance in favour of maintaining the present status of the Post Office. My hon. Friend knows that well. His argument, which he has pursued consistently, and which he will be pursuing again in an Adjournment debate on Monday, is strengthened every time unofficial industrial action reduces the level of service given by the Post Office.