HL Deb 14 October 1968 vol 296 cc1130-1
LORD FRASER OF LONSDALE

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

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the proposed new charge for obtaining numbers from Directory Inquiries will be waived in the case of blind subscribers who cannot look up numbers but who have had most courteous and free help in the past.]

LORD BOWLES

My Lords, I am obliged to the noble Lord for his kind reference to the helpfulness and courtesy of the directory inquiry operators. The special difficulties of blind persons will be taken into account when coming to a conclusion about a new special search service which is being tried out at Bournemouth, Dundee, Leicester, Putney and Southend. Directory inquiries continue to be handled without charge when the operator can find the number wanted reasonably easily from the particulars given by the inquirer. But when this is not so, and as an alternative to the present practice of terminating the inquiry, the operators at these places are now offering a special search by a separate operator at a charge of 1s. The aim is to test how far this new service will meet a public need and to help the Post Office to serve its customers.

LORD FRASER OF LONSDALE

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lord for trying sympathetically to answer my Question, but, with respect, he has not answered it. May I ask him whether he is aware that the special difficulty of blind persons is this? They may not know the address and number. They may be alone in their homes for a long time, or may even live alone, and cannot readily get someone to look it up. Therefore, I feel—and I hope the noble Lord will tell me if he feels—that blind persons should have the full service free. I hope that that is what he will be able to arrange.

LORD BOWLES

My Lords, my right honourable friend, when this experiment is being considered, will certainly have the most sympathetic regard to the noble Lord's point. The noble Lord may be under a slight misunderstanding. This service does not apply anywhere in the country outside these five towns. Elsewhere everything is free and there are no special charges even for vague inquiries.

LORD FRASER OF LONSDALE

My Lords, presumably it is the object to introduce this nationally.

LORD BOWLES

Yes, my Lords, that is so; and when this matter is considered, my right honourable friend will consider most sympathetically the noble Lord's point.

LORD FRASER OF LONSDALE

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord.