CASH APPEAL TO STOP 3,000 POST OFFICES SHUTTING

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THE embattled post office network will suffer a fresh wave of up to 3,000 more branch closures unless the Government throws it a lifeline, it is forecast.
Sub-postmasters are urging the coalition Government to safeguard the network’s future by improving their pay and giving them more work.

George Thomson, National Federation of Sub-postmasters general secretary, makes the plea.It comes after the Labour government’s “network change” programme led to 2,500 closures in two years, leaving just 12,000 still open by early 2009.

He said: “I expect to hear a commitment from Government that it acknowledges the vital importance of post offices to thousands of communities and that it plans to do all it can to sustain them. For the benefit of the nation, the new Government must think post office first when it is awarding new contracts and renewing existing ones.”

The Federation is in dispute over pay with the Post Office and says sub-postmasters have been hit by “totally unacceptable” cuts – a claim disputed by the PO.
Thousands of sub-postmasters suffered a business decline under Labour when pension and social security benefits started being paid directly into bank accounts instead of over the counter in post office branches.

Their salaries, linked to volume of trade, started to fall while dwindling customers devastated sales of products such as greetings cards, stationery and groceries. The Federation now wants the Government to support the post office network by giving it more business from both central and local government.
A Post Office spokesman said: “The Post Office is working extremely hard to support subpostmasters across the entire network by developing new products and services as well as ensuring we retain existing business, and average branch remuneration across the network has increased every year for the past four.

“In the financial year just ended, the average branch remuneration rose by five per cent at a time when pay for all direct employees across Royal Mail Group was frozen, and under the pay arrangements for this current year we expect many subpostmasters to see their remuneration increase further, despite the tough trading conditions faced by the entire company.”

Sub-postmasters usually have a fixed salary from the Post Office which they can top up by doing extra transactions and often by having a newsagent’s, card shop or village stores on the premises.

The Federation’s annual conference starts today and members will demand an “immediate commitment” from the new coalition Government for extra work to avoid a fresh wave of closures.

“It is a matter of grave concern that we begin our annual conference with the very real threat of mass post office closures due to a lack of new work for our members and now the unacceptable decision by Post Office Ltd to cut sub-postmasters’ pay,” Mr Thomson warned.

“I will be seeking to establish a positive relationship with the Government to urgently generate the new products and services that are essential if the network is to survive. However, we cannot ignore the challenges that lie ahead.”

The rural post office network was hardest hit by Labour’s closure programme with an average two branches shutting down every day of last year.
That has left just over 5,250 branches still open in rural England and Wales where they are a lifeline for thousands who rely on them for goods and services.