§ Lord Boothbyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have made adequate arrangements for the delivery of mail throughout the country in the event of a national rail stoppage.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Viscount Trenchard)This is an operational matter which falls within the responsibility of the Post Office under the Post Office Act 1969. I am advised by the Post Office, however, that they will try to maintain all the main postal services in the event of a total rail stoppage. As around 70 per cent. of letters and 60 per cent. of parcels normally go by rail at some stage of their journey, some delays will be inevitable. However, I understand that during the recent disruption in rail services, the majority of mail was still being delivered within the Post Office's normal service targets.
House adjourned at ten minutes past nine o'clock.