§ Mr. BOWERMANasked the Postmaster-General whether the whole of the sorting at the sub-district offices in London is performed by postmen; whether a great 1127W amount of sorting is performed in all provincial offices by postmen; and whether this work is on the increase?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe sorting at all sub-district offices in London, except Battersea, is performed by postmen. At Battersea, however, there is a certain amount of work which is held to be proper to sorters, and a small number of sorters are, accordingly, employed there as well as postmen. A considerable amount of sorting (mainly inward sorting) is performed by postmen at provincial offices, but the practice at different offices is not uniform, and is affected by local considerations,e.g., the size of the office and the nature of the sorting processes necessary, etc. It is probable that the application of the recommendations made in this connection by the recent Parliamentary Committee on Post Office Servants will result in an extension of the employment of postmen at some offices and a restriction on their employment in other cases.