§ 2.39 p.m.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they propose to take to deal with the growing size and unwieldiness of the London Telephone Directory.]
§ THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (EARL DE LA WARR)My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord for asking this Question, because there is no doubt that the present London Telephone Directory is becoming increasingly unwieldy. Up to 1931 one volume only was necessary; since then it has grown to four. With the growth of the telephone service we should, if we left things as they are, soon need five volumes. There is, indeed, no reason why that should be the end of it, when we consider the number of people who are still without a telephone. I have been considering this problem for some time, and if it is not tackled now it will become more and more difficult in the future.
The main problem has been to devise a new basis for the directory which will be easily understood by the public. At the present moment, we have one large directory in four parts, covering a region which extends from Welwyn, in the North, to Reigate, in the South; and from Gravesend, in the East, to Uxbridge, in the West. This includes some districts which have little or no relationship with what you and I think of colloquially as London. We have looked at various alternatives, and have come to the conclusion that the best basis is to have a separate directory for what we call the London Postal Area. Quite briefly, this means the area where addresses include letters and numbers, such as S.W.3 and N.W.11 and so on. Outside that central area, there will be individual volumes for those parts of the Home Counties which are now in the London Telephone Book, and in which the name of the county forms part of the postal address—that is, there will be an Outer London (Surrey) Directory, an Outer London (Kent) Directory, an Outer London (Essex) Directory, an Outer London 55 (Herts and North Middlesex) Directory, and an Outer London (West Middlesex) Directory. The Directory for the London Postal Area will still be in four parts, but, of course, very much smaller than the present volumes, and very much easier to handle. We propose to make these changes as from January 1, 1954. Each subscriber will be given the directory in which his name appears, and any others that he asks for, free of charge. The London Postal Area Directory will be distributed to all business subscribers, without their having to apply for it, in the London fringe areas which are now to have a London County Directory.
On the whole, I believe that this arrangement will be generally welcomed by subscribers, but in a matter which concerns so many people some may well feel that they would have liked something different. I feel sure, however, that we shall receive their help and understanding when they realise the problems we have had to face, and the very real endeavour we have made to formulate a scheme that will be to the advantage of the service as a whole. We know that residential subscribers do not use the telephone directory very often—not nearly so often, in fact, as some people may think—and that many keep their own list of telephone numbers, as a matter of convenience. This helps not only them but us. But an efficient directory inquiry service is, of course, very important. We have been looking at this problem, too, and improvements will be introduced at the same time as the directory changes. Incidentally, noble Lords will be interested to know that, although this scheme has been considered on its merits, it will save well over £250,000 a year. I should add that the directory changes do not in the least affect the telephone service given, and subscribers who now dial from one part of London to another will continue to do so; nor are the present charges for calls and rentals being altered in any way. This is purely a question of the London Telephone Directory.
§ THE EARL OF LISTOWELMy Lords, perhaps I may be allowed to congratulate the noble Earl and his Department on reducing the size of the London Telephone Directory. I find that the 56 present four volumes take up an enormous amount of room in my small flat, and I am sure that many other Londoners will be equally grateful. I wonder whether, in considering this problem, the noble Earl has also considered the possibility of reducing the number of volumes from four to, say, three. It seems to me that that is a step which might conceivably be taken in the future.
§ EARL DE LA WARRMy Lords, I thank the noble Earl for what he has said. I certainly have considered the reduction of the number of volumes from four to three. I confess that I was strongly in favour of this proposal, but I was persuaded—and I think rightly— that if we did that, with the growth of the telephone service, we might, in two or three years' time, find ourselves in the position of having to increase the number again. I feel that the change would be tiresome to the public, which has got used to the colours of the existing directories and the division A-D, E-K, L-R, S-Z, and, on the whole, I feel that it is better to retain the old way.
LORD STRABOLGIMay I ask the noble Earl a question arising out of his interesting statement? Would he state how many outer London directories there will be? What will be the position of a subscriber in an outer London directory district? Will he get all the outer London directories or only the London one, as well as his own? And what is to be the procedure?
§ EARL DE LA WARRMy Lords, I gave the names of five outer London areas, and that will be the number. What we are doing is to make an automatic distribution to business subscribers in all the outer areas, who will receive the Central London Directory without asking for it, and on request they can get all the other outer London directories. Residential subscribers in any of these areas can ask for and receive free of charge the directories of all the other areas. The noble Lord also asked me another question, and perhaps he will repeat it.
LORD STRABOLGII asked, what is the position of a subscriber in, say, Uxbridge. Will he get the other outer London directories, or only his own? Can he get the whole nine?
§ EARL DE LA WARRYes, my Lords, he can get all the London directories, on request. We are setting out the procedure in the next London Telephone Directory that is circulated, to help subscribers to see how to apply.
§ LORD BARNBYI should like to ask the noble Earl a question with particular regard to the main London area directory. Doubtless his advisers have considered, before they came to a conclusion, that the New York-Manhattan telephone directory, which is in two volumes, must contain far more names than the four volumes of the London directory. It is difficult to see why the reduction in the number of volumes suggested by the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, cannot be carried out. I think that might be a convenience, and it appears to be possible in New York to make do with two volumes.
§ EARL DE LA WARRMy Lords, I am informed that actually Manhattan has its own directory. I know that there are different ways of doing this, but I am sure that most people, when they consider how cumbersome these volumes are, and how very large a volume it would make if we tried to do the whole thing in one, will prefer the smaller books. But it is really a matter of opinion.
LORD HAMPTONMy Lords, I should like to congratulate the noble Earl on what I consider a very necessary reform. May I ask him whether it is the intention to have copies of the Central London Directory, as it will be then, in all the kiosks in the outer London area? I think that would be necessary.
§ EARL DE LA WARRMy Lords, the answer is: certainly in the majority of kiosks, and I think, possibly in all, but particularly those in what I call the fringes.