§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how many posting boxes there are(a) within that part of the Palace of Westminster under House of Commons control and (b) in the outbuildings in the parliamentary estates; how many have been replaced in the last five years; why this has been necessary; and what was the cost (i) within the Palace of Westminster and (ii) in the other buildings.
§ Mr. Ray PowellThere are 18 posting boxes within that part of the Palace of Westminster occupied by the House of Commons and nine boxes in the parliamentary outbuildings. During the past five years 14 of the boxes within the palace have been replaced, having become unserviceable through age, and inadequate for the volume of letters and packages they were required to accommodate. The new boxes, produced to designs approved by the appropriate Committees of the House, were provided by the Post Office in 1992 at no cost to the House.