Sunday Postal Collection: Restoration (Hansard, 18 January 1983)

§ Lord Thomas of Swynnerton
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, the question of restoration of the Sunday postal collection falls within the statutory responsibilities of the Post Office, and the Government have no power to intervene in the corporation's day-to-day operations. I understand that the Post Office has at present no plans for restoring this collection.

§ Lord Thomas of Swynnerton
My Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that rather unsatisfactory reply, may I ask whether or not he agrees that there must be something rather unbalanced in a society which is generous enough to consider the reopening of shops on Sundays but is unable to arrange for a satisfactory collection of post between the hours of 12 noon on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Monday mornings? It is a service which would be of inestimable benefit to large numbers of small businessmen in this country.

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, I am sure my noble friend, and indeed your Lordships' House, would agree that small shopkeepers and the Post Office are rather dissimilar organisations, but I would stress to my noble friend that the Post Office gives the information that there would be an additional cost of approximately £15 million per annum in restoring the Sunday collection. As I am sure my noble friend would also agree, we should allow the Post Office to manage; and it is their opinion that Sunday collection is most uneconomic, although it might appear necessary to individual Members of your Lordships' House.

Lord Winstanley
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that in 1979, when the Post Office Board contained seven trade union members, the Post Office Board decided that it was both feasible and desirable to restore Sunday collections and decided unanimously so to do? However, when the question of Sunday collections went to the conference of Post Office workers in the summer, it was turned down by, if I recollect correctly, something in excess of 2,000 votes to seven—the seven being the seven trade union members of the Post Office Board. In the light of that experience, would the noble Lord agree that, while it may be desirable to restore Sunday collections, and while many old people would like to feel that their week-end letters are being speeded on their way, the prospect of their restoration is somewhat remote?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, certainly I and, I am sure, your Lordships are very grateful for the detailed information which the noble Lord has given us. I was not aware of those interesting figures which have enlightened me, and I shall bring the noble Lord's point to the attention of the chairman of the Post Office. But I would stress, in view of the point which the noble Lord made about old people posting their week-end letters, that the Post Office are satisfied with their quality of service performance. Indeed, the delivery of both first- and second-class mail is within striking distance of the targets of delivery of one day for first-class post and three days for second-class post.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that over the New Year a great many Post Office boxes were not cleared between 31st December and 4th January, and is not such a cessation of service by a nationalised monopoly a matter of considerable concern to Her Majesty's Government?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, I will bring my noble friend's concern to the attention of the Post Office Board. But, of course, my noble friend will be aware that in my part of the country—that is, Scotland—we have an additional day's bank holiday.

§ Lord Jacques
My Lords, would the noble Lord bear in mind that many of us believe that workers in shops, in the Post Office and in other non-essential industries should be able to enjoy their family life on Sundays?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, that is a little wide of the original Question. But certainly in all the answers that I have given so far I have stressed that this is a matter for the Post Office Board, and I am sure that they will bring the noble Lord's question to the attention of their workforce.

§ Lord Monson
My Lords, does the noble Lord not think it deplorable that the last week-day collection from the majority of boxes in London now takes place as early as half-past five in the afternoon?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, I understand that in some areas there is a collection at seven o'clock, and that in some other areas there is an experimental collection at 6.30. But I believe that the 7 p.m. collection throughout the entire London postal district raised approximately 2 per cent. of the total mail collection, so that, somewhat naturally, the Post Office believed that this was uneconomic.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords—

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, I wonder whether I might help by drawing your Lordships' attention to the Companion to the Standing Orders which states: The tabling of Questions on nationalised industries is considered undesirable save for those asking for statistical information on a national basis or which raise matters of urgent public importance". I just wonder whether we are getting into the difficulty of being rather generous in the interpretation of Standing Orders.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, bearing in mind the strong feeling on the other side of the House that Post Office workers should be working on Sundays, may I ask the noble Lord whether he will seek to clarify how many Members on the other side of the House will be prepared to come to this Chamber on a Sunday morning and set an example to the Post Office workers?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, the noble Lord's question does not fall within the ambit of either the Question which I am attempting to answer or the guidance in the Companion. But perhaps he might relish the thought that many of your Lordships on both sides are in church on a Sunday morning.