§ 25. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate why a letter 434W sent to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West, on behalf of Lord Belstead, on 21 April asked for information already supplied; and why the envelope bore a 14p stamp as well as being officially franked.
§ Mr. WhitelawThe hon. Member's own letter dated 1 April did not indicate when or to whom any previous letter on this subject might have been sent, and a check of our records and those at New Scotland Yard failed to reveal a previous letter. The letter in question has now been traced, by the Metropolitan Police, as having been sent by the hon. Member to the officer in charge of Holloway police station on 16 May 1980. The Home Office implemented with effect from 1 April 1981 a new postal system which is being adopted over a period of time by all Government Departments. From that date the "official paid" marking ceased to have any significance for Home Office correspondence. The envelope was stamped to ensure that the letter could be forwarded to the hon. Member during the recess.