Postal watchdog has more bite

Postal watchdog has more bite
From WESTERN MORNING NEWS, January 29th, 2001
Byline: Louise Barnett
POST office users across the region will have a new watchdog to safeguard consumer rights. Plymouth businessman Charles Howeson was appointed on January 1 to spearhead the newly created South West branch of the Consumer Council for Postal Services (CCPS), a national body which goes into action in April. The South West regional committee will be one of the six English regions which make up the CCPS, along with panels representing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The new organisation will act as a watchdog for the three divisions of the UK Post Office – Royal Mail, the Post Office Counters network and Parcel Force Worldwide. Mr Howeson said the new structure would act as a vital safeguard for consumers’ rights. “I am confident that we will have the best of both worlds in our region when we start work on April 2,” he said. The CCPS will replace the national network of 186 post office committees which had previously represented customers. The Plymouth and District Post Office Committee is one of seven watchdogs across Devon and Cornwall which will be disbanded to form the new CCPS. During the past 40 years, the Plymouth watchdog had represented the needs of private users and small businesses. According to Karen Powell, secretary of the Plymouth and District Post Office Committee, the old system had established close links with customers. “We just hope the new national body will be able to accommodate the customers’ needs and listen very carefully to the views of the customer,” she said.
Mr Howeson was yesterday confident that the new structure could operate over
a
wider area without losing touch with grass roots customers. “The ability
to achieve the common touch and maintain local knowledge should
be not only maintained but strengthened,” he said. “Once the new structure
has shaken out and settled down the ordinary person
will certainly not lose a voice.” Mr Howeson’s first task is the creation
of a secretariat in the South West
region. A panel of 12 members, representing each county in the region,
will
form the new South West watchdog. The restructuring follows the
announcement earlier this month of plans to
re-brand the Post Office under the name Consignia. Mr Howeson said claims
that the new name meant the Post Office would be
privatised were unfounded. “The new name Consignia is simply to allow the
holding company to operate on
a worldwide basis without being confused with other national postal
operations
also called ‘Post Office’,” he said. “Because all UK citizens are both
stake holders and consumers, we need to have
a strong voice in how our postal services operate, hence the new Post
Office
Bill which establishes a watchdog – the CCPS – and a regulator, called
Postcomm.” Mr Howeson is chairman of economic development on Plymouth
Chamber of Commerce
and Industry. He previously served on the Post Office and
Telecommunications
Advisory Committee in Plymouth.WESTERN MORNING NEWS, 29th January 2001