§ 3.17 p.m.
§ Lord MONSONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government why, after incidents in which the contents of pillar boxes are damaged, whether by vandalism or otherwise, official notices are not as a matter of routine affixed to the boxes in question to warn the public that their outgoing correspondence may have been damaged or destroyed.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, this is a Question for the Post Office to answer and I understand that it already has been quite rightly directed there.
§ Lord MONSONMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. Does he not agree that the most extreme hardship can be caused to individuals if their letters go astray without their knowledge? —as was exemplified by an item in the City columns of last week's Sunday 883 Telegraph. With that in mind, will be not undertake to try to persuade the Post Office authorities that it is a simple, straightforward and inexpensive matter to fix a notice to a letter box which has been damaged in some way, in order to warn the public that letters posted on a certain day between certain times may have been destroyed?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, as there are some 2,000 Post Office box fires each year, the Post Office thinks that the suggestion has some merit. Further consideration is being given to see whether in such cases the sender can be provided with more information.