HC Deb 31 July 1963 vol 682 cc107-8W
Mr. Duffy

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance (1) how many retirement pensioners in the Holm-firth Urban District Council area are in receipt of a weekly supplement from the National Assistance Board;

(2) how many retirement pensioners in the Meltham Urban District Council area are in receipt of a weekly supplement from the National Assistance Board;

(3) how many retirement pensioners in the Saddle worth Urban Council District area are in receipt of a weekly supplement from the National Assistance Board;

(4) how many retirement pensioners in the Denby Dale Urban District Council area are in receipt of a weekly supplement from the National Assistance Board.

Total number of residence telephone lines Number of residence shared telephone lines Residence shared lines as a percentage of all residence telephone lines
United Kingdom 3,258,240 993,555 30.5
Wales (including the Border Counties) 112,211 34,322 30.6
County of Glamorgan 41,805 11,098 26.5

Mr. Mason

asked the Postmaster-General, in view of the number of telephone subscribers who are still having to share a line and the number of new residential subscribers who are having to take a shared-line service, what new steps he is taking to reduce the number of shared-line connections.

Mr. Bevins

The long-term aim is to let everyone have the kind of telephone service he wants, but until there are sufficient lines it is not practicable to reduce substantially the number of shared-line connections.

Mr. Mason

asked the Postmaster-General how many telephone subscribers are sharing a line; how many new residential subscribers received a shared-line service in each of the past five years; and what percentage they were of the total new connections in those years.

Mr. N. Macpherson

The statistics collected by the National Assistance Board relate to the whole of the area served by an area office. Separate figures are not available for the localities named, which together are served by two area offices covering, in each instance, a number of other local authority districts.