HL Deb 26 March 1968 vol 290 cc937-9

2.58 p.m.

LORD HAWKE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is correct that in some cases the Post Office is deliberately delaying delivery of postcards and printed papers with 3d. stamps in order to induce the public to put on 4d. stamps.]

LORD SORENSEN

No, my Lords. The Post Office delays despatch or delivery of mail with 3d. stamps where this is necessary to ensure that letters with 4d. stamps, which are given a better and more regular service in return for the extra charge, are not delayed. People who do not want their greetings cards or other printed papers to be liable to a slower service can, if they wish, put 4d. stamps on. The purpose of the recent Press advertisements was to remind people of this.

LORD HAWKE

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his Answer which, so far as it goes, is satisfactory. May I ask him two questions? First of all, will he give an assurance that the Post Office will never stoop in the future to deliberate delay of what it calls second-class mail? Secondly, would he reconsider the question of postcards, on which the public puts a 3d. stamp in the belief that they are cheaper to carry and are first-class mail, but which are apparently getting a second-class service?

LORD SORENSEN

So far as the second part of the noble Lord's supplementary question is concerned, I will certainly see that his observations are passed on to the Postmaster General. So far as the first part is concerned, I have no power at all to give that guarantee, but certainly I will see that the Postmaster General has his attention drawn to both what the noble Lord has said and also my own comments.

LORD SALTOUN

My Lords, may I ask Her Majesty's Government whether that is the reason my Whip, which was posted last Thursday, has not yet been delivered? Is it considered second-class mail? Can Her Majesty's Government also inform me whether it applies to Cross-Bench Peers, Conservative Peers, Liberal Peers, or all Peers alike?

LORD SORENSEN

I presume it is possible that the noble Lord suffers from a disadvantage by being on the Cross-Benches, but I will certainly see that the matter is investigated.

BARONESS HORSBRUGH

My Lords, can the noble Lord say whether, when we have to have a 5d. stamp, the mail will be delivered any more quickly?

LORD SORENSEN

My Lords, I think the Post Office will be as efficient and competent when the 5d. stamps are issued as it is now.

LORD SOMERS

My Lords, I think there is something in what my noble friend Lord Saltoun has said, because I discovered during lunch—

SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS: Order, Order!

LORD SOMERS

I beg your Lordships' pardon. Is it true that noble Lords on the opposite side have received their additional Whip, whereas we on this side have not?

LORD SORENSEN

My Lords, I have no information on that at all. But I shall be glad to have any evidence of it, which I can assure the noble Lord I will certainly see is considered in the right quarter.

LORD NAPIER AND ETTRICK

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that there are many people in this country who are grossly dissatisfied with our postal services? Is he further aware, as an example, that I myself posted a letter to the Inland Revenue in Edinburgh on February 21 and that my letter, with a 4d. stamp, was delivered on March 5? Is this really acceptable?

LORD SORENSEN

My Lords, there are, of course, literally billions of letters posted, and there are bound to be some complaints. I have no knowledge at all of the particular complaint of the noble Lord, and no doubt if he will send it to me, or to the Postmaster General direct, the matter will be investigated. But I would assure him that the experience of many of us is that as a rule our postal service is excellent.

VISCOUNT ADDISON

My Lords, is it not a fact that the postal services of this country are infinitely superior to those of any other European country?