asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will outline the method whereby he proposes to effect the reduction by £110,000 in the cost of post office services to his Department contained in the Book of Estimates.
Written Answers. - Post Office Services Cost.
410.
Estimates of the cost of Post Office Services as contained in the annual Estimates for my Department's two votes are based on figures supplied by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and allow for over or underestimation in the amounts provided for in the previous year.
The reduced amounts shown in the Estimates for 1980 for the Vote for Agriculture and the Vote for Lands include an adjustment of some £254,000 (not £110,000 as suggested in the Question) to take account of overpayments in 1979 which arose from a reduction in traffic due to the postal dispute and which could not be foreseen when the Estimates for that year were being drawn up.