Glasgow City Council points to post office closure fears
Scotland’s largest local authority has warned of a further raft of post office closures within the next 18 months.
Glasgow City Council has also criticised a commitment to ensure that 99% of the population of deprived areas are within a mile of a post office, saying the criterion was a reduction on a previous guarantee which cited half a mile.
The council suggests co-locating postal services in an accessible hub, alongside health centres, libraries and leisure centres. The authority made its criticisms in an official response to the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) consultation on the future of Scotland’s post offices.
The DTI is currently collating thousands of responses to proposals to close 2500 post offices throughout the UK, some 600 of which are expected to be in Scotland.
Glasgow City Council, which posted an official response on its website, predicts mounting problems for disabled and elderly if more offices close as well as longer queues, poorer facilities, loss of community cohesion and damaging repercussions for local shops and businesses.
In recent years, 27 offices have been closed in Glasgow, with the consultation lasting just six weeks. The city council wants this extended to 12.
The local authority is also supporting sub-postmasters in demanding the government carry out a full assessment of the social and economic role played by post offices and that it spells out the future size and purpose of post offices.
The website response states: “The council actively opposes local closures, particularly as the city has already experienced 27 post office closures since November 2002, and urges the government to look at new ways of modernising.”
Highlighting Glasgow’s levels of deprivation, and insisting the need for a post office in city schemes was as acute as in some rural areas, a council spokesman added: “We remain strongly opposed to the closure of offices in Glasgow, as they play a vital role in the communities they serve.
“Any closures will impact on elderly and disabled people who depend on the services provided and community cohesion they often bring.”
