§ Mr. Errollasked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether he will give an assurance that, in agreement with the staffs concerned, he is arranging for the maximum possible amount of overtime to be worked in the Sale Telephone Exchange area so as to reduce the back log of telephone applications.
§ Mr. Errollasked the Assistant Postmaster General what steps he is taking to employ outside contractors for trenching and other work in the area covered by the Sale Telephone Exchange in order to expedite the laying of the additional cables required to provide telephone service to applicants, some of whom have been waiting many years for service.
§ Mr. GammansI can assure my hon. Friend that we are doing all we can to speed up the provision of additional plant in the Sale area and that the measures we are taking include a great deal of overtime by our own staff and the employment of outside contractors for trenching and laying of ducts. More than half the present applicants should be connected up within a year; our aim is to improve on the high rate of connection of telephones in the Sale area which we achieved last year.