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More than half of Post Office could face the axe as the Labour Party government admits elderly UK households are likely to be worst affected in a branch cull.
Government documents suggest up to 6,000 branches could close – with state pensioners in rural areas hit worst. Labour’s Future of Post Office consultation, which closes tomorrow, suggests that approximately 6,000 of Britain’s 11,500 post offices could be forced to shut their doors permanently.
The consultation document indicates that more than 50 per cent of post offices across the nation have become financially unviable. Conservative Party shadow post office minister Harriett Baldwin warned against the closures.
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Ms Baldwin said: “Post offices are a precious part of our critical national infrastructure. Every community must have access to essential services like cash, parcels and communications.”
The Department for Business said: “It is right to consider a range of options to secure the organisation’s long-term future, but our preference is to keep the overall size and shape of the network the same.”
Commenting on the Government’s Future of the Post Office Green Paper, Neil Brocklehurst, Post Office CEO, said: “We now have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to have a national conversation about the future of our post offices and their role in supporting communities across the UK.
“Post offices are the hub of the high street where postmasters provide the face-to-face services which so many people and small businesses value – withdrawing and depositing cash, sending and collecting parcels with a range of different carriers, and paying bills. This Government consultation is a vital part of shaping what the future of Post Office could, and should, look like.”
Dipesh Modha, postmaster at Edgware Road, said: “I’m very excited that the Government has launched this consultation to listen to postmasters’ and the public’s views on the future of Post Office.
“Post offices like mine in Edgware Road are at the heart of high streets in every part of the country, and millions of customers will continue to rely on our essential services in the decades ahead. We might not get this chance to let our voices be heard for a long time so standing still is not an option – we need to take action now. I ask my fellow postmasters to please respond to the Green Paper in the next couple of months.”
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