HL Deb 19 February 1969 vol 299 c906WA
THE EARL FERRERS

asked Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (a) How many postal sorting offices there are for which the Postmaster-General is responsible;
  2. (b) How many are equipped with Automatic Letter Facing machines;
  3. (c) How many have single-position letter sorting machines;
  4. (d) How many have coding desks and high-speed coding machines;
  5. (e) Whether the people who use these machines are specially trained high-speed operators.

LORD BOWLES:

  1. (a) There are about 1,600 postal sorting centres in Britain.
  2. (b) Seven offices are equipped with Automatic Letter Facing machines at present.
  3. (c) Four offices have single-position letter-sorting machines.
  4. (d) Two offices have coding desks and automatic sorting machines in service.
  5. (e) At present the machines are operated by volunteers drawn from ordinary postal staff; they are given special training in the work.

House adjourned at one minute past seven o'clock