§ Sir W. DAVISONasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the discontent caused among members of the public at the charges made by his Department for ineffective telephone calls; and whether he will arrange for a statement to be furnished to subscribers showing the number of effective calls they are alleged to have made and the amount of any balance to their credit when a demand for payment of a further deposit is made?
§ Mr. PEASEThe hon. Member would appear to be under a misapprehension, as it is not the practice to charge telephone subscribers for ineffective calls. Subscribers can be informed at any time, on inquiry, as to the condition of their call accounts, but, with a constantly diminishing balance, a notification in every case of the number of calls on hand on a particular date would not be of great practical value, and would hardly justify the extra expense involved.
§ Major BREESEasked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that instructions have been officially issued to the telephone exchange office for the Carnarvon district that calls are not to be accepted from the Carnarvonshire County Council offices at Carnarvon; and if he will state the reason for such drastic action, having regard to the serious impeding of the work of an important public office, without notice given or cause assigned to the clerk to the county council?
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§ Mr. PEASEFollowing the usual procedure, telephone trunk facilities were withdrawn on the 5th December because, notwithstanding three applications, the account for trunk fees incurred during the month of October was still outstanding. The facilities, however, should not have been withdrawn in such a case as this, and appropriate steps are being taken to prevent similar action in future.