Mr. TYSON WILSONasked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that in the East Central section of the General Post Office thousands of letters fail the final evening despatches to the London district and sub district offices that are entitled to be delivered the same day, owing to the inadequacy of the staff at that office; if so, what steps he intends to take to prevent this delay to public correspondence; and, seeing that he has stated that upwards of 10,000 hours extra duty are now performed by sorters and postmen weekly in this section, and, in view of the fact that on 1st March sixty sorter's and ninety postmen will be absent on annual leave, which will mean upwards of 7,000 additional hours weekly to be filled up by extra duty, whether, in the circumstances, he will consider the advisability of deferring the commencement of the annual leave periods until the increase of force asked for is granted by the Treasury?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThe failures which have occurred have not been due to inadequacy of staff, but to the shortness of the time available for correcting mistakes, such as the posting of London correspondence in the country letter-boxes. The force of the Eastern Central District Office is to be increased, and there will be no need to postpone the annual leave of the staff.