§ Mr. W. BROWNasked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of recent complaints from solicitors and others regarding delay in proceeding with death claims in the Post Office Savings Bank, he will state the average time required for disposing of such claims before and after the introduction of the policy of dispensing with a number of male clerical officers and replacing them by women on an inferior grade paid at lower rates?
§ Mr. LEES-SMITHI regret that there are no statistics enabling me to give the hon. Member the information for which he asks. There are between 70,000 and 80,000 death claims a year, and the time taken to dispose of them varies according to the character of the claim from a few days to a much longer period.