Postage Stamps: Sale Outlets (Hansard, 14 April 1986)

The Earl of Selkirk
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Lucas of Chilworth)
My Lords, the question of the wider availability of postage stamps is an operational matter for the Post Office Board. However, I am aware that, while the Post Office is responsible for the printing and first issue of stamps, retailers are free to buy stamps and resell them in their shops.

The Earl of Selkirk
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply. Can he say how many post offices have been closed during the last 12 months, two years or any such convenient period? Do I understand that he is now saying that any retailer is perfectly free to sell stamps should he so wish?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, there are some 12,000 shops and hotels which currently sell stamps in addition to the network of 21,000 post offices that are supplemented by 8,000 stamp vending machines. So there is a reasonable 24-hour service across the country.

Lord Paget of Northampton
My Lords, can the noble Lord say what commission is received for selling stamps? Why is it attractive to a post office but not to a Co-op?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, it is attractive to some 12,000 shops and hotels. The Post Office does not, however, discount its sales.

Lord Bruce of Donington
My Lords, can the noble Lord say whether he regards the reduction in the number of post offices as being a matter solely for the Post Office? If it is a matter largely under Government policy control or Government policy suggestion, will he make urgent representations to the Post Office to stop reducing the number of post offices in the United Kingdom?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, the answer to the latter part of the noble Lord's supplementary question is, no. Questions about individual post offices are operational ones for the Post Office. The Government have no power, and indeed no wish, to intervene. The main criterion for the Post Office in 410 considering closure is the distance standard that the Post Office has operated since the 1940s in providing post offices in urban areas at intervals of not less than a mile. The standard is not applied rigidly.

§ Viscount Mountgarret
My Lords, more to the point of the Question, will my noble friend not agree that in a great many overseas countries, in any place where tourists buy a postcard to send to their nearest and dearest, they automatically also get a stamp if they ask for it? The suggestion contained in the Question of my noble friend would surely be of great assistance to tourists visiting this country. Should not this question be borne seriously in mind by the Government?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, this is not a matter for the Government. If retailers of postcards, or those running any other shop, wish to sell stamps, they are at liberty to do so. They are also at liberty to charge what they wish for those stamps, since no resale price maintenance is in force.

The Earl of Halsbury
My Lords, will the noble Lord say whether the reduction mentioned in the Question applies to what I might call sub-post offices; namely, those little retailers who fulfil the function of a post office behind one section of the counter and sell postcards, stationery, The Times and the Daily Express on the other side?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, I believe that I have already given a reply relating to the general principle of post office closures. I do not believe that I can go further.

§ Lord Strabolgi
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that stamps have been sold in certain cafes in France, at least for the whole of my lifetime, without any difficulty? Is he further aware that the face value of the stamp is the amount that is charged—and no more than that? That seems to proceed without any difficulty. Why is it so difficult in this country for stamps to be sold in pubs, for example?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for reminding us of the practice in France. There is no difficulty over the purchase and resale of stamps in this country. It is entirely a matter for retailers to decide.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, is it the intention of the Government, if the Sunday trading Bill is passed, to have post offices open on Sunday?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, the hours that post offices open are an operational matter for the Post Office itself. It has no bearing on the hypothetical question that the noble Lord asks.

The Earl of Selkirk
My Lords, have I understood my noble friend correctly? Can any retail shop sell stamps if it so wants; or does it require a licence to do so from the Post Office? I understand my noble friend to say that hotels can sell stamps. Can all retail shops also do so if they wish?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, given the legislation that currently exists and also any local by-laws that may obtain in so far as the sale of goods is concerned, shops, hotels, bars and so on may sell stamps if they so wish.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, will the noble Lord not agree that post offices provide a number of other important services for the public, not least the service to old age pensioners when they draw their pensions? Will the Government be prepared to listen to any protests that are made should there be further closures of post offices and not adopt a holier-than-thou attitude that this has nothing to do with them when they have not hesitated to sell off other public services to the rich?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, since this afternoon I am dealing with the question of the resale of postage stamps I regret that I cannot answer the noble Lord.

§ Lord Walston
My Lords, will the noble Lord consider using his undoubted powers of persuasion to suggest to the Post Office that, in view of the fact that it would have far less expense in selling stamps in bulk to other retailers, it should offer some discount, so as to encourage them?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, I am flattered by the belief of the noble Lord, Lord Walston, in my powers of persuasion. The Post Office practice has been to avoid giving discounts, since it is judged that this would not increase overall the stamp sales but instead would take away business from post offices, the overheads of which would remain the same.