§ 2.54 p.m.
§ Lord AIREDALEMy 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, in view of advertisements in the Press, and in particular in the Radio Times of 8th-14th February, which state "the new charity postage stamps … send l½p towards the help of handicapped people", they will defray the Post Office expenses which will otherwise be borne by the charitable fund.
§ Lord LOVELL-DAVISNo, my Lords. Her Majesty's Government are not responsible for the conduct of the charity stamp experiment or for any advertisements related to it.
§ Lord AIREDALEMy Lords, I am much obliged for that Answer. I was not suggesting, or intending to suggest, that the Government were responsible. But in so far as the people who rely upon these advertisements have been led to suppose that the administrative expenses do not begin until the l½p has arrived at the charitable body, will the Government keep faith with these people by making what amounts to a charitable donation of a few thousand pounds?
§ Lord LOVELL-DAVISMy Lords, I see no reason for the Government to do so, in view of what I have already said. I think that the noble Lord's question is best addressed to the sponsors of the advertisements. It is generally recognised that all charities have their administrative costs. At the same time, it ought to be made clear that the Post Office, in all their advertisements and Press handouts, have made it clear that the proceeds paid to the charities concerned will be the net proceeds.
§ Lord AIREDALEMy Lords, has the noble Lord read the advertisement to which I am referring? Can he say that there is any reference at all to any administrative expenses being deducted from the l½p, before the 1½p is paid to the charity?
§ Lord LOVELL-DAVISMy Lords, I think that the noble Lord, must be referring to the advertisement which appears, and which continues to appear, in the Radio Times. This would have been changed, I think, had it not been for the fact that the Radio Times, in common with other large circulation organs of that type, has to be printed much in advance. I believe that the advertisement may be changed in the future.
§ Lord AIREDALEMy Lords, I accept what the Minister has now said. Will he now retract his statement made just now, in which he said that the advertisements made it perfectly clear? —because they do not make it perfectly clear.
§ Lord LOVELL-DAVISMy Lords, I thought I made it clear that the advertisements to which I was referring were those issued by the Post Office. The advertisement to which the noble Lord referred was issued not by the Post Office but by the Board of Trustees appointed by the National Council for Social Services.
§ Viscount SIMONMy Lords, may we be assured that the administrative expenses will be shared between the Post Office and the charities in proportion to the amount that they get from the stamp; that is, 4½p and l½p.
§ Lord LOVELL-DAVISMy Lords, I do not see any real reason for that to happen. The Post Office will simply take the costs involved in producing this stamp. What the charities do, I am afraid I am not in a position to answer.