Post Office Local services need 'urgently addressing'

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Post Office Locals are being piloted across the UK with a view to replacing existing sub-post offices, but a report from Consumer Focus is critical of the service

Post Office Locals, the network of stores selling post office services alongside their normal goods, need significant improvements if they are to replace traditional sub-post offices, Consumer Focus has warned.

Post Office Locals are being established in a range of retail outlets including convenience stores, petrol stations and supermarkets, and could result in the closure of up to one in every five dedicated sub-post offices.

Post office services are provided by shop staff from the main store counter and the same till, rather than a separate sub-post office area with dedicated post office employees and separate tills. While they typically offer a more limited range of services, the outlets will usually have longer opening hours.

But in the Local but Limited report, the consumer body warns that worrying issues have shown up with the 60 Post Office Local outlets that have so far opened.

These include:

• Quality of service, with customers reporting problems in making cash or benefit withdrawals because caps have been introduced to prevent branches from running out of money. This is particularly serious for vulnerable or elderly customers.

• Levels of staff knowledge, with 28% of users feeling their experiences are average or poor.

• Poor layout leading to lack of privacy, with 43% of users saying available privacy is poor, especially for banking or financial transactions.

• Limited services, which have forced 53% of users to go to an alternative post office because their Post Office Local could not fulfil their needs. Services not offered include DVLA and passport services, bill payment or banking transactions, and international mail weighing more than 5kg. Consumer Focus also says some branches do not appear to offer full parcel services, even though they are supposed to.

Andy Burrows, post office expert at Consumer Focus, said: "It is vital the Post Office delivers a model that meets its customer's needs, both now and in the future. Our research highlights some plus points, but also many warning lights which must be urgently addressed. This is a massive shift away from traditional sub-post offices and millions of customers shouldn't be asked to sacrifice quality of service for the sake of convenience.

"We recognise that the Post Office must change if it is to be successful in the future. Post Office Locals have the potential to modernise the network, but the design and implementation must be absolutely right for their customers. To make the network sustainable they must also be able to benefit from future revenue streams including banking transactions and the lucrative market for parcel drop-off and collection, which is being fuelled by online shopping."

Consumer Focus is calling on the Post Office to make sure the full range of post office services is consistently available from Post Office Locals, and that urgent measures should be introduced to tackle the capping of cash withdrawals. It also wants staff to be given better training and for guidelines on layout to be provided.

The Post Office says the same cash withdrawal limits apply in both Post Office Locals and ordinary branches, and even the latter occasionally run out of cash. In a statement it said: "The aim of Post Office Local branches is to enhance customer convenience, particularly through extended opening hours – a fact noted within Consumer Focus's own report.

"Since the research that underpins the report was done last September, we have extended the product range available to our customers.

"For example, Post Office Local branches can offer well over 95% of the transactions that customers typically undertake at any post office outlet. The main products that the service doesn't offer – motor vehicle licences, passport applications, on-demand bureau de change – are already only available to customers at selected branches within the post office network.

"Post Office Local pilot work will continue over the next 12 months as we continue to refine and develop this service offer for our customers."