Post Office Ltd (UK) rules out more closures
The Post Office has moved to stem fears that thousands more branches could be closed on top of the 2,500 scheduled to shut, claiming it has “no plan or desire” to shrink the network further.
The reassurance follows speculation that the Government’s closure plan would need to be extended by cutting another 4,000 post offices. Post Office executives said today they had the funding to maintain branch levels for at least the next three years.
The controversial plan by Royal Mail to close 2,500 branches to save GBP 500,000 a day, will take the network down to 11,500. Until now, further reductions had not been ruled out.
Speaking before the Commons Enterprise committee yesterday, Alan Cook, the Post Office managing director, said: “We must be clear about this. We strongly maintain a desire to keep the network at 11,500 plus.”
He added: “We do have to work within government funding and policy, but we would oppose further plans to shrink the size of the network.”
However, Mr Cook admitted the pledge could only be kept if his company won the government’s post office card account, through which millions of people are paid state benefits.
Ministers have put the card account contract out to tender and are understood to have received rival offers. The National Federation of SubPostmasters has warned that up to 3,000 post offices could be forced to close if the network loses the card account contract. The government is due to make a decision later this summer. Yesterday, Mr Cook said he was confident that the Post Office would win the contract.
The Post Office has moved to stem fears that thousands more branches could be closed on top of the 2,500 scheduled to shut, claiming it has “no plan or desire” to shrink the network further.
The reassurance follows speculation that the Government’s closure plan would need to be extended by cutting another 4,000 post offices. Post Office executives said today they had the funding to maintain branch levels for at least the next three years.
The controversial plan by Royal Mail to close 2,500 branches to save GBP 500,000 a day, will take the network down to 11,500. Until now, further reductions had not been ruled out.
Speaking before the Commons Enterprise committee yesterday, Alan Cook, the Post Office managing director, said: “We must be clear about this. We strongly maintain a desire to keep the network at 11,500 plus.”
He added: “We do have to work within government funding and policy, but we would oppose further plans to shrink the size of the network.”
However, Mr Cook admitted the pledge could only be kept if his company won the government’s post office card account, through which millions of people are paid state benefits.
Ministers have put the card account contract out to tender and are understood to have received rival offers. The National Federation of SubPostmasters has warned that up to 3,000 post offices could be forced to close if the network loses the card account contract. The government is due to make a decision later this summer. Yesterday, Mr Cook said he was confident that the Post Office would win the contract.
In a heated committee hearing, the Post Office was criticised by industry watchdog Postwatch and angry MPs about the lack of transparency within the business. MPs described the decision-making on branch cuts as a “shambles”, while Postwatch chief executive Howard Webber said that the process was “more of an art than a science.” Of the 784 branches that have been shut to date, 42 closures have been overturned on appeal.
Post Office managers told exasperated committee members they would not make public how many post offices in a given constituency were commercially viable because the information was commercially sensitive. However, when pressed, it said the information would be revealed to an MP if asked for directly.
The Post Office also revealed that around 100 local authorities had shown an interest in stepping in to takeover branches set to shut. The company said that most local authorities were observing the progress of plans by Essex county council to save 15 threatened branches with an GBP 1.5 million rescue package, before committing to any takeovers themselves.
