Rural group backs UK Post Office closure plan
Plans for the reorganisation of the rural postal system that include the closure of 2,500 post offices have been welcomed by a group of rural campaigners.
The plans were announced to Parliament before Christmas by trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling. He said the restructuring was needed “to protect the national network”.
He said a GBP1.7 billion support package would be provided to maintain GBP150 million-a-year payments to the rural post office network until 2011. In addition, up to 4,000 fee-free cash machines will be rolled out to help customers in areas hit by the closures, he said.
To offset the closures, he said the Post Office would set up 500 “innovative outlets” for small, remote communities, including “mobile post offices and services in village halls, community centres and pubs”.
Sylvia Brown, chief executive of Action for Communities in Rural England, said the present system of post office support was unsustainable. She said: “We want the post office subsidy transformed into a contribution towards a genuine investment plan to help retain access to a range of services within rural communities.
“We are pleased that the minister recognises the future of post office services may lie in combined delivery with pubs, shops or village halls hosting services and sharing premises to reduce overheads.”