§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Postmaster-General whether he will initiate a system whereby pensioners, the sick and disabled may on presentation of a letter addressed to a Member of Parliament to a post office have such a letter franked without payment, thus assisting those on 150W limited pension and sick payments from having to pay the heavy postage of 5d. when wishing to write to their Members on matters connected with their financial difficulties.
§ Mr. StonehouseNo. Apart from any question of principle, I think that such a scheme would be very difficult to operate both for Members of Parliament and for the Post Office.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Postmaster-General why mail posted at the second class rate to Members of Parliament at the House of Commons is dealt with as second class to that stage but first class if re-directed; and why this mail is delayed in the first instance and expedited in the second.
§ Mr. StonehouseSecond class letters addressed to hon. Members, and all other persons, are not delayed; they are dealt with at the speed for which the sender has chosen to pay. If redirected singly they are sent second class; but it is to the advantage of the customer and the Post Office to send them first class when they form part of a bundle containing first class redirected letters.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Postmaster-General (1) whether he is aware that an official first class postage letter posted on 25th October, 1968 addressed to the Member for West Ham, North, in London, was not delivered until the second class special delivery at 12 noon on 30th October; and when the hon. Member can expect to receive postal service equivalent to that in operation before the introduction of the two-tier system;
(2) whether he is aware that a 4d. letter addressed to the hon. Member for West Ham, North, posted 23rd October in London, S.W.1, was not delivered until 12 noon on Tuesday, 29th October; and what action he proposes to take to ensure that mail sent to Members of Parliament is not deliberately held up by the postal authorities.
§ Mr. StonehouseIf my hon. Friend will let me have the envelope of the first class letter concerned I will make inquiries about its treatment in the post.
I regret the second class letter took so long for no apparent reason.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that 151W before the introduction of the new postal arrangements the hon. Member for West Ham, North, received both 4d. and 3d. postage paid letters on first delivery at or around 7.30 a.m., and that now the first class delivery is sometimes more than one hour late; and to what extent this fall off in service in the Palmers Green area is general throughout Greater London and the rest of the country.
§ Mr. StonehouseI am sorry that the first delivery to my hon. Friend's address was late on a few days at the end of October because the postman was new to the round. I am not aware that delays of this nature are more prevalent anywhere now than they were before 16th September.