Post Office consultation closes 8th March

There are currently around 14,300 post offices (down from around 25,000 in the 1960s). Since 2002 around 3000 urban post offices have closed (ie about 4000 since Labour first took power). In Gloucestershire not long ag there were more than 200 Post Offices - in the last 10 years we have lost more than 50. There were just 139 left last year: some of these were also planned for closure so I'm unsure now how many we have.

Photo: newspaper clipping of Whiteshill Post Office closure March 2005. See me in back row of photo! A recent survey found 8 out of 10 local residents are inconvienienced when their village Post Office closes. One third are affected a great deal.

The current proposal is to close another 2500 post offices over the next two years - this is the basis for the current consultation which closes on 8th March. Gloucestershire looks set to be hit particularly hard by the cuts.

We are told that only 4000 post offices (at most) are commercially viable in the UK. The Government recognises that it needs more than that to fulfil a social role, but it doesn’t say how many, talking instead vaguely about the need for the network to be “sustainable”, without saying what that means. The prospects for our post office network under the present Government look at best uncertain, and at worst bleak. No post office can be considered safe.

Photo: Paganhill Post Office nearly lost but community still mugged by Tesco?

Stroud District Green party seeks a healthy post office network that meets our social, environmental and economic needs. We seek to prevent closures, and to re-open post offices that have closed. Rural post offices and stores are often the focal point of a community. Not only do they offer access to basic needs but are also in many cases a lifeline to older residents. The loss of these facilities can only serve to further increase social isolation within this age group.

Photo: post office relocated behind Tesco in Paganhill

Below is a brief draft of some of the key points raised in my submission to the consultation process. I would welcome comments as I plan to tidy this up a bit but would urge others to make their thoughts known by clicking here for the Dti website and details of how to take part.

The Post Office Network - Consultation Response

Return completed forms (preferably by e-mail) to: Postal Office Network Consultation, Department of Trade and Industry, Response Centre, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
E-mail: dti.enquiries@dti.gsi.gov.uk

Question 1. Do you think the Government's forward strategy for the post office network addresses all the key issues and challenges the network faces?

No

Comments: The government needs to be much more explicit about the social role of post offices, and their role in providing sustainable communities: the impact of Climate Change and Peak Oil need to be recognised properly.

Post offices are the heart of a community. They are often a lifeline to vulnerable, disabled or older people, plus many young families, people on low income and local businesses. The All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group report (February 2006) said that around 30% of people over 65 do not see any friends at least once a week. Small shops and post offices are often the only form of regular social contact: after these disappear the MPs note "there are serious concerns about accessibility to life's necessities." Age Concern (Oct 2006) found that 98.6% of older people said their local post office was a 'lifeline' and played an important part in their local community. The same survey found that for more vulnerable older people and those living alone the post office was even more important.

Post Offices help the local economy, often keeping neighbouring businesses afloat (particularly any shop attached to the post office). Their local presence often avoids the need for a car journey, or an arduous and expensive journey on public transport.

The Government's failure to recognise the social role of post offices is reflected in how they describe the Social Network Payment (SNP) as a “subsidy”. When the Government spends billions on the NHS, it is called “investment”. However, when the Government want to get away with reducing their support, even though it fulfils an important social purpose, they call it “reducing subsidy”. By using the word “subsidy” the Government creates an image of propping up a failing business in our minds, so that we don’t mind so much when that support is taken away.

According to the President of the South West Region of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, Stuart Manning, the SNP does not actually reach sub-postmasters. He claims that a third of it is “created” by playing around with existing budget figures, another third is spent on maintaining the rural network from Head Office, and the rest is spent on consultants to come up with business ideas, such as new financial products, and advise management on how to do its job. There would seem to be considerable room to look at how the SNP is used more effectively and all the evidence points to the need to significantly increase the amount available rather than ending this investment in communities.

The local post office and shop is a cornerstone of a sustainable society, based on strong, highly self-reliant communities. Closing post offices leads to longer distances travelled and more carbon emissions. The problems of Climate Change and Peak Oil (the point at which world oil production rises to its highest point before declining) mean that we need to be returning to local provision of services not moving away from them.

In rural areas with a Post Office, half of all customers walk to the Post Office. Following a local closure 81% drive to the farther Post Office by car (Postwatch, 2002). In urban areas 70% of customers walk to their local Post Office: after closure only 42% do so, whilst 44% go by car (Postwatch 2001).

Question 2. Are there other significant factors affecting the future of the post office network which appear to have been overlooked in the Government's proposed approach?

Yes

Comments: The sustainability of communities relies upon their access to services, both commercial and government agencies. The lose of post offices and the subsequent effect on the sustainability of communities, the intangible social network needs to be considered. The impact of Climate Change and Peak Oil, as mentioned above, are not considered properly. Also the government has not properly expanded the services available to customers and citizens from post offices: it is estimated that the Government taking business away from post offices by paying pensions and benefits directly into bank accounts has cost the Post Office around £400m p.a. in lost income. This latter move may mean efficiencies for the service provider but has meant increased hardship for a significant number of people.

Many other factors also impact on sustainability: second homes that often lie empty for many months have for example led in some villages to tipping the balance so that a Post Office becomes no longer viable.

Question 3. Do you have comments on the national access criteria proposed?

Yes

Comments: The access criteria are rather a blunt tool, because they take no account of transport links or population demographics. One mile can be a very long way with young children or if customers have mobility problems.

Question 4. Do you have comments on the access criteria proposed for deprived urban and rural areas?

Yes

Comments: See above.

Question 5. Do you have any suggestions as to how services might be better delivered through the post office network?

Yes

Comments: Government agencies should make much more of their services available through post offices. For example parking fines could be paid, planning applications viewed and full banking services provided.

Question 6. Do you have any comments on Outreach arrangements as a means of maintaining service to small and remote communities?

Yes

Comments: The proposal for mobile post office services for remote communities, or running post offices from non-traditional premises could be a way forward for some communities.

Question 7. Do you have comments on the practicality of community ownership of parts of the post office network, which might involve the transfer of assets to community organisations and/or the establishment of local mutual or co-operative organisations to own and run local services?

Yes

Comments: This is an interesting way forward, but will need support from central or local government: financial support as well as advice. Advantages of a community-owned shop and post office include the fact that providing the public service does not fall on one individual and that it can be run democratically. However there are huge concerns that poorer communities may not be able to afford such a venture or supply the volunteer help that is needed in some of the current schemes. The Post Office is a public service and should remain so: the level of public funding of such community projects will be critical.

As a final point all this adds weight to the need for the Sustainable Communities Bill to be passed. David Drew is one of the sponsors for this exciting and potentially very important piece of legislation.

The Bill has already got through the first hurdle - it needs all the support it can get. I've pinched the stats alongside this from the Local Works website which has lots more info.