HL Deb 17 July 1978 vol 395 cc6-8

2.46 p.m.

Lord BRAYE

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 they will direct the Chairman of the Post Office to take appropriate action to improve the extremely unsatisfactory and unreliable service of the first class mail, as this is a matter of grave public concern.

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

No, my Lords. I understand the first class mail results over the past five years have in fact shown a steady improvement. The percentage of first class letters delivered by the next working day after collection has been as follows:—

1973–74 89 per cent.
1974–75 89 per cent.
1975–76 92 per cent.
1976–77 93 per cent.
1977–78 93 per cent.
Moreover, the Chairman of the Post Office, soon after taking office, pledged himself to make the service to customers as reliable as possible.

Lord BRAYE

My Lords, while I thank the noble Lord for that Answer and for the statistics that he has kindly given us, I am sure that a great number of your Lordships will have found that the first class mail is still extremely irregular.

Several noble Lords

Hear, hear!

Lord ORR-EWING

My Lords, do the noble Lord's statistics take into account the fact that weekend postings and collections are now very limited indeed and, if those facts are taken into account, does it not mean that there is in fact a much longer delay?—because, as the noble Lord has said, no letter posted on Friday, for instance, can be delivered the next day and the same applies to Saturday and also to Sunday. One wonders whether his statistics are not rather selective in producing what seems to be a good result.

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, within the existing system, they are not selective. Whether noble Lords want Sunday collections is another question. I am speaking about the situation as it is at present.

Lord MURRAY of GRAVESEND

My Lords, would my noble friend not agree that not only on those statistics but in comparison with most other nations in the Western world we have one of the best postal services in the world?

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, I agree with my noble friend. When one thinks of certain other postal services one always says "Thank you" when one says one's prayers at night. It is not perfect, and no one has ever said that it is perfect.

Lord ALEXANDER of POTTERHILL

My Lords, will the noble Lord agree that that is a matter for sympathy with the rest of the world?

Lord BRUCE of DONINGTON

My Lords, will my noble friend bear in mind that this morning, which is 17th July, I received a letter from the State of Texas dated 5th July and that our own postal services measure up much better than that?

Lord WIGG

My Lords, will the Minister bear in mind that there is one facility which the Post Office could provide?—that is, to take into account the feelings of those of us who have a few years behind us and not express weights to be carried in terms of grammes. Can this not be done in honest ounces, or have the Secretary-General of the Post Office Union and other Euro-fanatics taken complete control, which might perhaps account for the excellent service that we are getting?

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, that is a very complicated question. I do not really know a grain, a gramme or an ounce but, so long as I do not get surcharged, I am happy.