asked the Postmaster-General what formula or calculation his Department employs to anticipate demands for the installation of telephones.

Separate forecasts of the likely demand for telephones are made for each exchange area, and it is on the basis of these forecasts that the provision of plant is planned. The forecasts take account of past trends and future prospects, including probable business and housing developments, population changes and general expectations about economic conditions.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that information. However, I ask him to bear in mind that in parts of my constituency there is a delay of three years in providing a telephone. These machines are no longer luxuries but necessities. With the dispersal of business and commerce, it is urgent that some more accurate forecasting should be made and that instruments should be more expeditiously provided. Will my right hon. Friend look at his formulae again to see whether they are really reliable?

What has been at fault in the past has not been the formula or the forecasting but the paucity of capital. This is what has held matters back. I am glad to tell my hon. Friend that in her constituency half of those now waiting for telephones will have their orders met by June this year.