The fight for survival
Can the UK’s post office branches weather the storm of privatisation? Not so long ago, as a fresh-faced trainee reporter on a local newspaper, I was sent by my editor to follow a “march” that ended at a village post office. It was during the last widespread post office closure programme, and this particular branch was earmarked for the chop.
With pen in hand, the quotes rolled in: “The post office is the centre of the community”; “I’d be stuck without a local post office”; “The loss of this branch would crush our village”.
Admittedly, the majority of the campaigners were old-age pensioners, still harbouring fond memories of times gone by, when a post office would stand proudly at the heart of rural communities across the UK.
However, as we see society becoming more engulfed in digitalisation, we have to ask ourselves whether the romantic notion of true community spirit still exists? Probably not. And one unfortunate victim of this could be your local post office.
As the Postal Services Bill nears its completion, sub-postmasters and mistresses could not be blamed for feeling a little uneasy about the future. With Post Office Ltd losing the UK welfare payment contract, and with the likely end of the inter-business agreement with Royal Mail, will post office branches be able to survive?
Interesting research from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) suggests it will be difficult. The organisation claims that the end of the inter-business relationship with the soon-to-be privatised Royal Mail could lead to more than 9,000 post office closures, according to the results of a poll of 800 sub-postmasters.
According to the CWU, 92% of those polled said that they could not survive without Royal Mail business. In addition, 89% of sub-postmasters said they “would be unlikely to continue to run their post office” under government plans to implement a ‘Locals’ model. “On this basis, 9,054 post offices would close nationwide. Less than 1% (5 people) said they would be very likely to continue,” the CWU said. Meanwhile, 90% say they have “no confidence in the government to return services to the Post Office”.
Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary argued that the figures “clearly demonstrate the fears of sub-postmasters and mistresses about the fate of the cherished post office network,” whilst stating that “the post office network faces a greater threat than anyone previously dared believe”.
“Through the privatisation of Royal Mail, refusal to guarantee business and the removal of government contracts, the government is failing post offices,” he added.
You have to fear for the future of post office branches across the UK. Mail volumes continue to fall, substitution and digitalisation are being embraced, and key services, formerly provided by Post Office Ltd are being provided elsewhere.
So it begs the question: When I’m an old-age pensioner, and I reminisce about the ‘good old days’, will post office branches be a distant memory?
What is the future of Post Office Ltd and its thousands of branches? Can they survive? Or are we facing mass closures in the near-distant future? What should the government be doing to protect them? Please comment below…
