Tag: Royal Mail

More than 8,000 rural post offices appeared to have a brighter future yesterday when the European Commission approved a pounds 450m package of government subsidies to help keep the branches open. The Department of Trade and Industry announced its intention to hand over the cash over three years in December, but said the money would have to be given the go-ahead by Europe’s regulators for state aid. The subsidy had to be referred because it could give Post Office Limited an unfair advantage over other companies battling to break into the postal delivery market. The Commission ruled that the grant should be allowed because the Post Office is obliged by the Government to provide country-wide over-the- counter access to state benefits and other services.

The European Commission has decided today not to raise objections to a further series of financing measures in favour of Post Office Limited (POL), the retail subsidiary of Royal Mail Group plc. These measures complement earlier measures the Commission approved in 2002. On 12 March 2002 the Commission approved the funding of a basic postal account to credit social benefits and from which cash can be withdrawn at post office counters for those benefits holders who do not want to open an account with a bank. On 18 September 2002 the Commission approved minimum funding necessary for POL to close 3,000 urban counters no longer required under the 2000 UK Postal Services Act (2000).