asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state in respect of the years 1947, 1951, 1954 and 1956 (a) the total number of staff in his Department distinguishing between (i) postal and telegraph staff, and (ii) telephone staff; and (b) the number of telephone engineering staff.
Written Answers. - Post Office Personnel.
The total staff employed in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs fluctuates considerably during each year owing to the employment of temporary, seasonal and casual staff. The following figures are, therefore, necessarily approximate.
Total staff (excluding broadcasting) employed in the years ended:—
|
31/3/1947—12,931 |
(including 2,084 scale payment sub-Postmasters and 3,666 part-time employees). |
|
31/3/1951—15,212 |
(including 2,124 scale payment sub-Postmasters and 3,477 part-time employees). |
|
31/3/1954—16,055 |
(including 2,159 scale payment sub-Postmasters and 3,302 part-time employees). |
|
31/3/1956—16,161 |
(including 2,167 scale payment sub-Postmasters and 3,233 part-time employees). |
Owing to the large proportion of the Department's staff engaged on work common to postal, telegraph and telephone services, it is not practicable to assign specific numbers to the different categories mentioned in the question. Headquarters staffs, for example, perform work common to all three services, and the same is true of postmasters, sub-postmasters, etc. The total numbers of staff given above have been divided in the following statement to show (i) staff employed on work common to the three services, (ii) staff employed mainly on postal and telegraph work, such as clerks and postmen, (iii) staff employed on telephone operating and (iv) staff employed on engineering work, which at present is mainly telephone engineering.
|
Common to all three Services |
|||||
|
Year ending |
Headquarters Offices, Stores Branch and Supervisory Staff at Head Post Offices |
Sub - Postmasters |
Postal and Telegraph Staff |
Telephone Staff |
Engineering Branch Staff |
|
31/3/1947 |
1,512 |
2,084 |
7,667 |
585 |
1,083 |
|
(including 139 part-time staff) |
(including 3,475 part-time staff) |
(including 52 part-time staff) |
|||
|
31/3/1951 |
1,762 |
2,124 |
8,281 |
907 |
2,138 |
|
(including 137 part-time staff) |
(including 3,301 part-time staff) |
(including 39 part-time staff) |
|||
|
31/3/1954 |
1,881 |
2,159 |
8,508 |
1,078 |
2,429 |
|
(including 124 part-time staff) |
(including 3,140 part-time staff) |
(including 38 part-time staff) |
|||
|
31/3/1956 |
1,905 |
2,167 |
8,429 |
1,081 |
2,579 |
|
(including 127 part-time staff) |
(including 3,065 part-time staff) |
(including 41 part-time staff) |
The increases in staff were necessitated by increased volume of work, some details of which are as follows:— the number of postal items increased from 242,547,000 for the year ended 31-3-1946 to 329,765,000 for the year ended 31-3-1955; the number of originating trunk calls increased from 7,117,000 for the year ended 31-3-1946 to 12,800,000 for the year ended 31-3-1955; the number of local calls increased from 49,116,000 for the year ended 31-3-1946 to 82,000,000 for the year ended 31-3-1955; the number of telephone stations increased from 54,583 for the year ended 31-3-1946 to 111,130 for the year ended 31-3-1955. The number of originating telegrams for the year ended 31-3-1946 was 2,494,000; the comparable figure for 1955 was 2,323,000.