HC Deb 29 March 1965 vol 709 cc195-7W
Mr. Ogden

asked the Postmaster-General how many public telephones in the City of Liverpool were so damaged by vandalism as to be made unusable during the years 1955, 1960 and 1964, respectively; and what was the cost of necessary repairs and renewals.

Mr. Joseph Slater

I estimate that, at different times during 1964, some 450 public telephones in the City of Liverpool were so seriously damaged as to render them unusable for a prolonged period. In all, there were about 9,000 separate cases of damage involving 95 per cent. of the telephone kiosks in the city, but the telephone was still usable in many of these. The cost of repairs, excluding overheads, was about £20,000. Comparable figures for 1955 and 1960 are not readily available.

Mr. Ogden

asked the Postmaster-General what was the average length of time in 1964, between a public telephone being reported as unusable and its return to service.

Mr. Joseph Slater

In general, damage to public telephones, as distinct from kiosks, is repaired on the day it is reported. But in some cases repairs take forty-eight hours and, when the damage is very extensive and vandalism is rife, they may take some weeks.

Mr. Ogden

asked the Postmaster-General how many public telephones have been damaged on more than one occasion in 1964.

Mr. Joseph Slater

In a few badly affected areas as many as 90 per cent. of the public telephones were damaged more than once during 1964; overall, during the last quarter of 1964, there were some 27,000 separate cases of damage involving 18,000 of our 75,000 call offices.

Mr. Ogden

asked the Postmaster-General how many persons were convicted for vandalism to public telephones in the city of Liverpool in the years 1955, 1960 and 1964.

Mr. Joseph Slater

To my knowledge twenty-six persons were convicted in 1964 for offences involving damage to public telephones and kiosks. Comparable figures for 1955 and 1960 are not readily available.

Mr. Ogden

asked the Postmaster-General whether in view of the increasing damage to public telephone kiosks, he will introduce legislation to increase the penalties for this offence.

Mr. Joseph Slater

No. The maximum fine under Section 14 of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, under which offenders are normally prosecuted in these cases, was increased from £20 to £100 only last year.

Mr. Ogden

asked the Postmaster-General if he will initiate a publicity campaign to draw attention to the consequences that can follow when members of the public are unable to contact the fire, police, ambulance, or hospital services, because a public telephone has been made useless by vandalism.

Mr. Joseph Slater

My right hon. Friend is prepared to use publicity measures where there is a reasonable hope that they will achieve results, but all our experience suggests that general publicity campaigns do not get through to the small anti-social minority who damage public telephones. Our main efforts are therefore concentrated on measures to make telephone equipment less vulnerable (which is necessarily a long-term operation) and on assisting the police and local authorities in badly affected areas with special drives to detect offenders.