§ Mr. Skeetasked the Lord Privy Seal what are the current stocks of House of Commons stamped envelopes on issue to hon. Members and in stores; and what is the quantity expected to remain with the Stationery Office at the end of March.
§ Mr. BiffenIt is not possible to estimate the current stocks of old—Official Paid—envelopes held by hon. Members as these may continue to be used for correspondence up until 31 March 1984. Approximately 79,450 envelopes of this type are currently held in stores although this figure may be increased by any stocks returned by individual hon. Members. All stocks of these envelopes which were held by Her Majesty's Stationery Office have been exhausted.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, in view of the practice of charging for franked House of Commons envelopes before they are issued, what loss the House is expecting to incur through their withdrawal on 31 March 1984.
§ Mr. BeithThe introduction of a new format of prepaid envelopes for Members' use arose as a result of the withdrawal of the older style of "Official Paid" envelopes from all other users in April 1982. Members of Parliament would then be the only users of a withdrawn type of stationery, and delays and difficulties in handling of mail were anticipated. The older type of envelopes were originally due to be withdrawn between April and October 1983, during which period both old and new sytles would be valid, in order to allow stock to be run down without undue waste. Subsequently, the period was extended to 31 March 1984, to allow further time to use up the old envelopes. Arrangements have been made with the Post Office to recover the postal charges on envelopes of the old type which are returned. If hon. Members assist by returning all their stocks of the obsolete envelopes to the Serjeant at Arms stores, as many have already done, the cost to public funds of the changeover should be minimal.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will consider overprinting existing stocks of House of Commons franked envelopes.
§ Mr. BiffenI refer to the reply given to the hon. Gentleman today by the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) in which he explains that the cost of existing stocks of envelopes of the old type will be recovered from the Post Office. Overprinting would not therefore be likely to result in a saving to public funds.