TIME TO DELIVER SOME SUPPORT FOR ROBERTS

STRONG MANAGEMENT HAS not been what we have come to expect from the Post Office. Changing the name of the organisation to the ghastly Consignia may have been silly but at least it amounted to a remarkable display of decisiveness.

And this week it seemed that the management might actually have stiffened its nerve sufficiently to tackle entrenched problems in the business. John Roberts, the chief executive, appeared before the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday and made it clear that he was prepared to consider up to 30,000 job losses over the next 18 months. On Wednesday morning, in radio interviews, he was unrepentant. But by yesterday evening there was the distinctly uncomfortable sound of backtracking. The smack of firm management had turned into the equivocation of quivering nerves.

One can sympathise with Mr Roberts. Finding himself just a fortnight before Christmas confronted by furious trade unions and the prospect of mounting piles of undelivered season’s greetings cannot have been pleasant. And when he looked around for support, he was pretty much on his own.

His chairman, Neville Bain, may have been hard at work on another tome advising people on how to run their businesses but he was certainly not at Roberts’s side. The Government, which might have been expected to provide moral support, was quick to explain that the Post Office may not have been properly privatised but the running of it was certainly not government responsibility.

Peter Carr, the chairman of Post Watch, was a lone voice offering encouragement from the sidelines. But since any word from this users’ council will probably only antagonise the trade unions further, it was not likely to provide any comfort for Roberts.

Perhaps his statement to the Select Committee was premature. Perhaps he should have had firmer plans before blurting out figures and infuriating the unions. Perhaps the timing was not of the best: although the official disputes procedure would see the Christmas post delivered without hindrance, the ability of unofficial action to disrupt deliveries is a well-known hindrance to business in Britain.

But now that he has been brave enough to admit the scale of change that needs to be brought about, Roberts should not backtrack. The organisation is desperately overmanned, hopelessly inefficient and it has been clear for years that it will not improve without a bruising battle with the unions.

Roberts has not shone as a chief executive but he knows the Post Office well and he may have a clear idea on how to improve it. What he desperately needs is support in implementing those ideas.

The search is now on for a new chairman for the organisation. Until that individual is found, there will be an interim appointment who must be brave enough to back Roberts and steel his nerves. The Government chickened out of privatising the Post Office, so now it needs to provide the backing that is required to turn it into a proper public service. Anything else would be cowardly.

(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2001