§ Mr. Sainsburyasked the Secretary of State for Industry how much of the capital receipts of the Post Office for 1974–75 arises from the sale of land.
§ Mr. Gregor MackenzieIt is too early to give the precise figures before the audited accounts of the Post Office are published later this summer; but the receipts from the sale of land in 1974–75 are not expected to exceed £3 million.
§ Mr. Tom Kingasked the Secretary of State for Industry what percentage of postal revenue is represented by direct mail traffic; and if he can give an estimate of the likely future drop in traffic from direct mail.
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§ Mr. Gregor Mackenzie, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 14th May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 141], gave the following information:
Posters of letters do not declare their purpose and the Post Office tells me that no figures are available. The volume will obviously vary with the level of economic activity and with changes in the relative costs of different forms of advertising.
§ Mr. Tom Kingasked the Secretary of State for Industry what percentage of Post Office capital expenditure is now required to be met from internal finance; and if he will give a general direction to the Post Office to finance any acquisition of outside manufacturing facilities within the present self-financing requirements of the Post Office.
§ Mr. Gregor Mackenzie, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 14th May 1975; Vol. 892, c. 141], gave the following information:
There is no requirement upon the Post Office to achieve any specific self-financing ratio. However, with economic pricing the Post Office would normally expect to finance about half of its capital requirements from internal sources. The answer to the second half of the Question is "No".