§ Mr. de Freitasasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the inconvenience, discomfort and delay caused by the many letter boxes which are either of the wrong size or in the wrong place; and what steps he is taking to encourage the installation by houseowners of letter boxes about 3 ft. 6 in. from the ground and about 8 in. by 1¾ in. in size.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonI am grateful to the hon. Member for his interest in this serious problem of under-sized and badly placed letter boxes.
The British Standards Institution agreed some time ago a new Standard for these boxes, and manufacturers are now producing excellent boxes in accordance with it. To encourage the installation of the new boxes I am using a cartoon film for television, posters in Post Offices and in ironmongers' and newsagents' shops, displays in Post Offices, and leaflets which I hope local authorities will attach to all building plans they approve; we propose also to send the leaflet to premises where the existing letter box is particularly troublesome. I am sending the hon. Member copies of the posters and the leaflet.
My right hon. Friends the Minister of Works and the Minister of Housing and 64W Local Government have promised their support, as have also the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Building Trades Employers' Federation, and the Federation of British Industries.