asked the Postmaster-General what are the statistics of faults on the Whitehall telephone exchange now and 12 months ago, respectively; and whether he is aware that the service given by this exchange is deteriorating.

The service statistics for Whitehall exchange show that the service is now slightly better than it was 12 months ago apart from the speed of answer which deteriorated last summer but has since been improving. The fault statistics compare favourably with those of other automatic exchanges in London.