Secure Post Office network now

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MINISTERS will this week be urged to take practical measures to secure the future of the Post Office network.

A Commons inquiry into how to ensure branches can survive will stress the need for practical measures to attract more customers.

It follows the controversial closure programme which saw some 140 Post Office branches axed across Devon and Cornwall last year.

Tomorrow's report from the Business and Enterprise Committee comes after Lord Mandelson signalled he was keen for an inquiry to be held into ways in which the Post Office network could adapt to the 21st century.

The investigation included a visit to Devon in March for members of the public to forward their ideas on how to give the network a new lease of life.

Devon County Council pledged earlier this year that it would provide grants to 15 village shops in order to help them to stay open.

With fewer letters being sent and more benefits being paid direct into bank accounts, the number of people visiting their local Post Office has fallen dramatically in recent years.

The loss of some Government contracts – including buying TV licences – has also hit trade.

Some branches closed in the Westcountry saw only a handful of people a week.

However, countryside campaigners have stressed the importance of branches to community life, particularly for the elderly.

Ideas put forward during the course of the committee's inquiry include developing a Post Office Bank with more banking services on offer in all branches and allowing sub-postmasters to run "virtual doorsteps" in the future as families do more shopping online, but are not at home to collect parcels.

Tomorrow's report could not be more urgent.

Thousands of Post Offices are still struggling to survive despite the closure programme which was supposed to boost trade for those that stayed open.

Some sub-postmasters are living off their savings because they are not making any money.

A study of 750 sub-postmasters showed two thirds have seen their income fall or remain the same over the past year, while more than half are taking home less than £1,000 a month.

The National Federation of Sub-Postmasters said services designed to boost incomes are failing to deliver, and called on the Government to introduce "tangible new work" for Post Offices.

The recent spate of Post Office closures and attempts to boost sub-postmasters' incomes had delivered little or no new money, said the report.

Federation general secretary George Thomson said: "This situation is not sustainable. Our survey clearly shows that the Post Office network is not out of the woods despite the recent closure programme and the livelihoods of sub-postmasters remain at risk.

"I believe that the network can once again be a thriving national resource at the heart of local communities, used and valued by millions.

"This can only be achieved if the Government steps up to the mark and delivers real, tangible new work for the public and for small businesses to carry out across our counters."

Postal affairs minister Lord Young said: "With the Post Office being awarded the Government contract for payment and benefits and the new driving licence renewal contract, things are looking brighter for the Post Office network.

"We are also keen for the Post Office to increase its financial services offering, to use its unrivalled network to put a wider range of services within reasonable reach of the whole population."