Tag: Mail Services

Decisions on Kent Post Office Branches Announced

Posted by | Dec 6, 2007 | |

Post Office Ltd today announced decisions on the future of Post Office® branches across Kent, following a six week public consultation ending on 12 November. Post Office® services will be provided through a network of 295 branches, which supports the national accessibility criteria introduced by the Government and ensures that 99 pct of the county’s population will either see no change to their existing branch or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The plan confirmed today means that 56 branches will close in Kent, with the first closures scheduled to take place in January. These branches were detailed in the Area Plan proposal published on 2 October 2007.

Two branches originally proposed for closure – Cliff’s End in Ramsgate and Hawkhurst – will now remain open following a review of the issues raised during consultation and of factors relating to geography, the availability of local transport and access to alternative branches, local demographics and the impact on local economics.

At Cliff’s End, having taken into account local feedback, Post Office Ltd was concerned that alternative branches were not sufficiently easy to reach and that the viability of the branch’s retail business, which provided a critical service for the community, would be threatened. In Hawkshurst, further review during consultation demonstrated the difficulties that customers would face reaching an alternative branch further from the main shopping area of the village.

Additionally, as a result of the information provided during the six week public consultation process, improvements will be made to 18 branches in Kent to improve accessibility, particularly for customers with disabilities, or to increase capacity by providing additional counter positions.

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Post PNG-CPL JV offers health, postal services

Posted by | Dec 6, 2007 | |

Post PNG and City Pharmacy Ltd have formed a venture to provide postal and health services in areas without access to full pharmaceutical outlets.

The Post PNG management is spearheading this initiative. Also, a number of the venture’s branches will house a new ANZ branch to offer deposit and withdrawal facilities to local residents.

Each outlet, which will be managed by a senior pharmacist, will provide health and postal services.

After completion of renovations, customers will be treated to a modern, comfortable and convenient shopping environment.

Two pilot projects are underway – the Bialla branch which is to open before Christmas and the Maprik branch which will start business in the New Year.

These new outlets were hoped to save the people of Bialia and Maprik the trouble of spending time and money travelling to major centres for their pharmaceutical and banking needs.

Eighteen new outlets will be set up nationwide by next year.

Post PNG and City Pharmacy also planned to open 18 additional new pharmacies and a number of new ANZ branches in areas where these services are not fully available.

This new venture was hoped to improve the quality of life of the rural people.

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Postcomm proposals aim to simplify Royal Mail's compensationschemes

Posted by | Dec 6, 2007 | |

Postcomm has outlined proposed changes to Royal Mail’s compensation schemes for lost, damaged and delayed mail to make them fairer and more suited to customer needs.

The regulator has conducted a public consultation and worked closely with Royal Mail and Postwatch to address concerns about the complexity of Royal Mail’s current compensation schemes for retail customers and some inconsistency in how they are applied.

Following this review, Postcomm is proposing to remove bulk mail from a regulated compensation scheme for delay. Competition for bulk mail customers has developed to a point where the regulator is proposing that it is more appropriate to move towards a market driven option allowing the growth of schemes which reflect the differing needs of large mailers.

Royal Mail’s retail customers should face less difficulty in pursuing their claims because, for retail mail that has been lost, damaged or delayed, the proposals aim to simplify and align:

* the processes for making a claim;
* the evidence required to support a claim; and
* the compensation payments themselves.

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China hosts international meeting on UPU strategy

Posted by | Dec 5, 2007 | |

An international meeting on the Nairobi Postal Strategy is taking the 4th and 5th December in Guangzhou (China). The meeting ends a cycle of seven regional round tables held over the past few months to gather the views of UPU member countries on the future sector strategy.

The first round table was held in Moscow (Russia) last June and the last one in New Delhi (India) last week. Through this consultative process, some 400 participants and over 170 countries have been able to put forward their views on the future strategy.

This strategy, based on the three dimensions of the sector, contains four objectives: improved interoperability, promotion of sustainable postal sector development, stimulation of the universal postal service, and promotion of market and postal service growth.

For Pascal Clivaz, Director of Finance and Strategic Planning at the International Bureau, “one of the most important lessons of the round tables has been to find out that objectives are similar throughout the world, although the order of priority is not the same”.

The strategy will be implemented through the regional development plans prepared by the International Bureau for the UPU’s main geographical regions and should make it possible to strengthen the postal sector as an essential element of the world economy.

The UPU’s four-year roadmap will be submitted to the Postal Operations Council and Council of Administration in January and February 2008. It will then be presented for adoption by member countries at the Nairobi Congress.

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Postwatch: Inquiry into post office closures

Posted by | Dec 5, 2007 | |

The House of Commons Business & Enterprise Select Committee has just announced a new inquiry into early experiences of the Post Office’s ‘Network Change Programme’ for restructuring the sub-post office network. It will also look at the implications of the changes to the Crown post office network and the transfer of many such offices to retail outlets, such as branches of WH Smith.

The Trade & Industry Committee (which this Committee recently replaced) examined the Government’s proposed framework for a new round of post office closures in two reports earlier this year. These reports persuaded the Government to refine the access criteria and their application. The Committee will now look at how the process is being carried out in practice.

The Committee intends to focus on:

– experience of the local consultation process so far;
– the extent to which final decisions have taken local views into account;
– the nature of the proposed 500 ‘Outreach’ services and service quality;
– the role of Postwatch in the current Programme and in the future;
– how changes to the Crown post office network interact with sub-post office closures;
– the future of both Crown and sub-post office networks.

Postwatch will submit evidence to this inquiry and appear before the Committee.

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