11,000 West jobs under threat as Post Office loses TV licence deal

THE future of more than 1,000 West jobs was in doubt last night as the Post Office lost the contract to run the BBC’s TV licence operation.

Administrators at the centre in Barton Hill, Bristol, and another 400 inquiry officers round the country were told the unit will shut down next March after more than three decades. Union leaders are now seeking urgent talks with the Post Office – renamed Consignia – which it blames for drafting a flawed bid.

Communications Workers Union (CWU) assistant general secretary Tony Kearns hopes also to meet the four firms still in the running for the main part of the contract. The union is unhappy that a list of five bidders has now been reduced to a shortlist of four, with only the Post Office losing out.

Mr Kearns said: “Our primary aim is to secure continued and long-term employment for the people who – through no fault of their own – have found themselves victims of a flawed and unsuccessful bid. “To say we are disappointed by this is a major understatement.”

BBC bosses have put the contract out for tender once before, two-and-a-half years ago, when the Post Office won.

But the CWU does not believe it put as much effort into retaining the lucrative deal this time