§ 1. Sir G. Foxasked the Assistant Postmaster-General if he will erect a telephone kiosk at Kidlington, Oxfordshire; and if he will take steps to improve the service at this telephone exchange.
§ Mr. BurkeThere are already three telephone kiosks at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, but the Post Office is prepared to provide a fourth, at Gosford Turn if the local authority will undertake the usual contribution of £4 per annum for five years. Steps will be taken to improve the quality of the service at Kidlington exchange.
§ 2. Sir G. Foxasked the Assistant Postmaster-General if he will erect a telephone kiosk at Fencott, Oxfordshire, as the nearest telephone to this village is a mile away, and at Blackthorn, Hethe, Hardwicke, near Bicester; and when it is anticipated each will be working, respectively.
§ Mr. BurkeArrangements are already in hand to provide a kiosk at Blackthorn and it is expected that the work will be completed within two or three months. A public telephone already exists at Hethe. This will be replaced by a telephone kiosk, but in view of the heavy demands which are being made on the Post Office resources, it is not possible to say when this work can be put in hand. At Fencott and Hardwicke there are no spare wires available with which to provide service and in the case of Fencott there is no spare equipment at the appropriate exchange. In view of the exceptional amount of work involved, therefore, it is not possible to say when kiosks could be provided in these two localities. In any case, it would be necessary for the Local Authorities to undertake to pay the usual contribution of £4 annually for five years.
§ 3. Sir G. Foxasked the Assistant Post-master-General if he will erect a telephone kiosk at Cottisford school crossroads, Oxfordshire; if the present military wire to the control box can be so used when the explosives in the neighbourhood have been removed; and if he will erect another 28W kiosk at Juniper, in the parish of Cottisford.
§ Mr. BurkeI am prepared to erect a telephone kiosk at Cottisford school crossroads and another at Juniper, if the local authority will in each case contribute £4 annually for five years towards the installation. The military line at Cottisford could be used as the hon. Member suggests when it is surrendered by the Military Authorities, but at Juniper an underground cable would have to be laid because of the proximity of an air field and it is not possible at present to say when this work could be put in hand.
§ Captain Macleodasked the Assistant Postmaster-General what sums of money are received from local authorities towards the upkeep of telephone kiosks; and whether, in the postwar plans of his Department, it is proposed to continue to levy these sums.
§ Mr. BurkeThe Post Office undertakes to provide, free of charge, a public telephone kiosk wherever there is a post office or wherever there is a reasonable chance of the kiosk paying its way after two or three years. Where neither of these conditions apply, the Post Office will provide a kiosk if the local authority will contribute £4 a year for five years towards the cost in rural areas or will guarantee to make good the difference between receipts and expenses for seven years in urban areas. Because of the war, the programme for the provision of kiosks is considerably behind hand and, until more progress has been made in wiping off these arrears, it would be inopportune to make any change in the present basis of charging, which has the merit of indicating to the Post Office those cases to which local opinion attaches particular importance and of giving the local authority the power to decide where a kiosk is to be provided.