§ Mr. HURDasked the Postmaster- General whether supervisors in the telephone service have any control over the official section of that service; if so, why delays of from three to five minutes repeatedly occur before those who desire Imperial cable messages to be collected are put into touch with official 890; and 886W maining 157 undertakings into six classes:—
- Class 1.—Undertakings which showed a credit balance for the year after meeting all charges, including capital redemption and reserves.
- Class 2.—Undertakings which after meeting all charges, including capital redemption, made reserves in excess of the amount available from the year's working.
- Class 3.—Undertakings which after meeting interest and capital redemption were unable to meet Income Tax and other appropriation charges in full.
- Class 4.—Undertakings which after meeting interest charges were unable to meet capital redemption in full.
- Class 5.—Undertakings which were unable to meet interest charges in full.
- Class 6.—Undertakings which were unable to meet their working expenses.
whether he will take steps to deal with this apparent inefficiency?
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSThe supervisors in the telephone service have control over the working of the lines connected with the official switchboard. Present records show that the average time for establishing communication with official 890 is 11 seconds, and complaints in this connection appear to be very rare.