§ Captain Kerbyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the function of The London Postal Customs; how many persons they employ; how many prosecutions and convictions have taken place as a result of their opening letters addressed to retired senior police officers; what contraband they seek; and what percentage of letters arriving in the United Kingdom from overseas is opened and resealed by this agency.
§ Mr. TaverneCustoms staff numbering 188 are employed at the London Postal Customs Depot, where they work alongside postal officials, to examine postal packages sent into and out of the United Kingdom, in order to ensure the proper payment of Customs duties and the enforcement of any prohibitions or restrictions on importation or exportation. All imported postal packages are liable to Customs examination, but only those thought to contain articles (of any kind) are, in practice, examined; those selected for examination are opened and resealed by postal officials. No statistics are compiled to show what proportion of all packages arriving in the United Kingdom are opened for Customs examination. I am not aware that any prosecution and conviction has resulted from letters addressed to retired senior police officers.