§ 2.38 p.m.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the following suggestions regarding the Metropolitan Police Lost Property Office may, in the interests of the public, be urgently considered:—
- (i) That it be located in a more central position, easily accessible to an underground station, and easily found by visitors and tourists;
- (ii) That the present hours of opening, i.e., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, which prevent people who are working—and who represent 95 per cent. of the population—from ever claiming their property, be lengthened or changed or both;
- (iii) That the present rule by which it is not possible to enquire by telephone whether or not an article has been received and entered in the register be immediately rescinded, thereby saving time and money spent by the public on fruitless journeys.]
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (LORD MANCROFT)My Lords, the Metropolitan Police Lost Property Office is not difficult to find or to approach. It is in Lambeth 855 Road, close to the south end of Lambeth Bridge. Five bus services from different parts of central London pass the office, and others stop on the south side of Lambeth Bridge. There is an underground station within five minutes' walk. No complaints about the hours of opening have been received in recent years. It is essential for the proper functioning of the Lost Property Office that lost property collected overnight from police stations throughout the Metropolitan area should be sorted and recorded before the office is opened to the public, and after closing the accounts have to be completed and books balanced. There could therefore be no general extension of the hours of opening without an increase in staff; and I do not think that there would be any advantage in changing the hours without lengthening them.
The office was connected to the public telephone system until 1927, but experience showed that inquiries about lost property could not be satisfactorily dealt with by telephone. I understand that the experience of the London Passenger Transport Board Lost Property Office has been similar. Personal calls at, or correspondence with, the Lost Property Office are not the only approach open to losers of property. Any local police station would accept an inquiry at any time of the day or night and notify the loser of the result. My right honourable friend is considering whether there is anything more which can be done to make the arrangements more convenient to the public.
LORD WINDLESHAMMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for his reply, may I say that in the closing sentences he intimated that perhaps a little more could be done than has been done so far, and may I ask him this. I know that he has a busy afternoon in front of him; therefore I should not wish to supplement my original Question to any great extent. I gather from his remarks that it is thought that the present location of the Lost Property Office is not too difficult to get at, so I withdraw my 856 suggestion on that point. The noble Lord says that there is an Underground station within five minutes walk. The term "five minutes walk" is a comparative one. If the noble Lord thinks he can walk from Waterloo to Lambeth Road in five minutes—he is of course a good deal younger than many of us—he is entitled to try, but I doubt very much if he will do it. Dealing with one part of my Question the noble Lord has suggested that extra expense would be involved if better facilities were provided and has said that inquiries could not be satisfactorily dealt with by telephone. On the other hand, this Lost Property Office is intended to be an amenity, and I cannot believe that the public would mind an infinitesimal sum of money being spent in order to make more of the amenity. The second part of my Question related to the hours of opening. The noble Lord says it is a question of sorting, filling in registers, and so on. Surely that could be done on one day for the next day. What is required is that the six hours—if it is to be six hours—should be from one till seven instead of from ten till four, so that people could go to this office in their lunch hour, or when they have finished work. At the moment they can go only in their lunch hour—
§ LORD MANCROFTI hope the noble Lord will forgive me for interrupting, but he is making rather a long speech for a supplementary question. I shall be only too ready to help him if he will put all this down in a Motion or in an Unstarred Question. We can then discuss the matter in all the detail he likes.
§ LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCHArising out of the original Answer, may I ask the noble Lord whether it is correct that local police stations notify inquirers when the result of the search is negative?
§ LORD MANCROFTI think that is so.
§ LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCHThey did not notify me.