Issue - meetings

Post Office Closures

The Post Office has announced that 26 of its Cambridgeshire branches are expected to close or be replaced with a reduced service. The move is part of wider proposals to reduce the number of branches nationwide by up to 2,500. Six of the affected post offices are in South Cambridgeshire. These are:

The proposal is for the post offices in Fen Drayton, Granchester and Impington to close, whilst the post offices in Arrington, Elsworth and Over are to have either a hosted or a mobile Outreach Service. These are defined below:

Mobile Service 

• Mobile Post Office van with a counter service inside
• Parked at a pre-determined safe location
• Available at fixed periods, e.g. 90 minutes at specified hours on set days of the week 
  
  

Hosted Service 

• Mobile counter
• Located in a local community building or business such as a village shop, church hall or garage

Public Consultation

There will now be 7 weeks of public consultation ending 26th August 2008. During this time, individuals, businesses and communities will be invited to check and challenge the Government’s closure criteria applied by Post Office Limited to see if it has been correctly applied and to make a formal response.

A Guidance Note on how communities can effectively respond during the consultation period can be downloaded from Cambridgeshire ACRE’s website following this link: http://www.cambsacre.org.uk/services/advice_funding.htm

Sources of Help and Assistance for Communities

There are a number of actions that can be taken to minimise the negative effects if Post Office closures by individuals and communities as a whole. These include looking at alternative ways to provide key services.

A Guidance Note with further ideas and information can be downloaded from Cambridgeshire ACRE’s website following this link: http://www.cambsacre.org.uk/services/advice_funding.htm

Sources of Help and Assistance for Affected Post Office Businesses – The Post Office Closure Business Support Scheme

In Cambridgeshire, a support package has been funded by County and District Councils that will give one-to-one support from an experience Business Link Advisor. The Advisor can help analyse business needs and develop a business action plan.

A Guidance Note with full information can be downloaded from Cambridgeshire ACRE’s website following this link: http://www.cambsacre.org.uk/services/advice_funding.htm.

Short-term Support Strategy

The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Post Office Network Change Group has published a short-term support strategy outlining the work it will undertake on this important issue. There are separate strategies for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and copies of these can be downloaded from Cambridgeshire ACRE’s website following this link: http://www.cambsacre.org.uk/services/advice_funding.htm

Post Office Limited

Further information can be found on Post Office Limited’s website, including the Area Plan and Branch Access Reports. Please follow this link to be taken to the relevant area of the site: http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=57600693&mediaId=57600697

Postwatch

Postwatch is the independent consumer watchdog for postal services in the United Kingdom and plays an important part scrutinising and challenging closures before the closure list is announced. To find Postwatch information, go to www.postwatch.co.uk and select “post office closures”.

What next?

The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Post Office Network Change Group will be gathering together information in order to make a partnership response to the public consultation.

The Group is developing a longer-term strategy that looks beyond the current closure programme. This strategy will identify a range of actions to support the viability and survival of post office and other services in communities, as well as alternative and innovative ways of providing postal services to those communities left without. The strategy will be launched later this summer.

If you need any further information, please contact the Chief Executive’s Office at Cambridgeshire ACRE on 01353 865041 or email kirsten.bennett@cambsacre.org.uk

To remind you, Cambridgeshire ACRE is providing a briefing for District and Parish Councillors in the Chamber at 6.30pm on Wednesday 16 July. There are still places available. Bookings via Jackie Sayers 01954 713541.

The Committee agreed that the Sub-Group should meet again and send a second letter to the Minister. The Senior Democratic Services Officer was instructed to send a reminder to all those Members who had not yet responded to the his earlier messages requesting details about the post offices in their villages.

Councillor Mrs Heazell reported that a letter had been sent by the Post Office Sub-Group to the Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry on 24 January 2007. No reply had been received. It was noted that in future all correspondence sent on behalf of the Committee should be sent on Council headed note paper.

It was noted that the Government’s deadline for responses was 8 March 2007, which limited the amount of time Committee members could spend on this matter.

The Committee agreed that the informal Sub-Group should meet again and send a second letter to the Minister. The Senior Democratic Services Officer was instructed to send a reminder to all those Members who had not yet responded to his earlier messages requesting details about the post offices in their villages.

“This Council regrets the loss of any post offices in South Cambridgeshire and notes with concern the announcement by the Government on 14 December 2006 of Ministers’ plans to close 2,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

“This Council further notes the social importance of Post Offices to the well being of communities and individuals in South Cambridgeshire.

“This Council believes that the recently announced closure programme is unnecessary and calls on the government to end the branch closure programme, open up further business opportunities for the network and carry out a review of which additional Government functions could be carried out through Post Offices.

“This Council welcomes the decision of the Government to withdraw its previous proposals to scrap completely the Post Office Card Account (POCA), but calls on Ministers to ensure that any replacement POCA should be open freely to all pensioners and benefit recipients who want one.  This Council calls on the Government to avoid putting pressure on current and future POCA users to switch to having benefits and pensions paid directly into bank accounts.”

Note: This motion will require a seconder before it may be debated.

Council RESOLVED that:

This Council regrets the loss of any post offices in South Cambridgeshire and notes with concern the announcement by the Government on 14 December 2006 of Ministers’ plans to close 2,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

This Council further notes the social importance of Post Offices to the well being of communities and individuals in South Cambridgeshire.

This Council believes that the recently announced closure programme is unnecessary and calls on the government to end the branch closure programme, open up further business opportunities for the network and carry out a review of which additional Government functions could be carried out through Post Offices.

This Council welcomes the decision of the Government to withdraw its previous proposals to scrap completely the Post Office Card Account (POCA), but calls on Ministers to ensure that any replacement POCA should be open freely to all pensioners and benefit recipients who want one.  This Council calls on the Government to avoid putting pressure on current and future POCA users to switch to having benefits and pensions paid directly into bank accounts.

Councillor JP Chatfield moved and Councillor RMA Manning seconded the Motion set out under Agenda Item 19(a).

The Motion, on being put, was declared carried.

Council RESOLVED that:

This Council regrets the loss of any post offices in South Cambridgeshire and notes with concern the announcement by the Government on 14 December 2006 of Ministers’ plans to close 2,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

This Council further notes the social importance of Post Offices to the well being of communities and individuals in South Cambridgeshire.

This Council believes that the recently announced closure programme is unnecessary and calls on the government to end the branch closure programme, open up further business opportunities for the network and carry out a review of which additional Government functions could be carried out through Post Offices.

This Council welcomes the decision of the Government to withdraw its previous proposals to scrap completely the Post Office Card Account (POCA), but calls on Ministers to ensure that any replacement POCA should be open freely to all pensioners and benefit recipients who want one.  This Council calls on the Government to avoid putting pressure on current and future POCA users to switch to having benefits and pensions paid directly into bank accounts.

The Committee agreed to set up an informal task and finish group of Councillors R Hall, Mrs EM Heazell, AG Orgee and Mrs HM Smith. This group will report back to the Committee on how best to respond to the Government’s consultation exercise, basing the proposed response on the Committee’s discussions. The response will be copied in to Postwatch.

The Senior Democratic Services Officer agreed to send the consultation form, with Postwatch’s two page explanation of the consultation process, to all Members.

The Chairman welcomed Linda McCord and Dawn Giddens from Postwatch, an independent consumer body, not attached to the Royal Mail Group or the Government. Linda McCord then gave a presentation on the proposed closure plan and made the following points:

• The Government proposed that a maximum of 2,500 post offices be closed, 50% to be from rural areas
• This amounted to 17% of all post offices, which equated to 230 in the Eastern region
• The Access Criteria was to ensure that 99% of people will be within 3 miles of a post office,
• Closures could start happening from the summer of 2008, which was seen as too soon
• Voluntary redundancies of post masters would not be offered as the closure programme would be governed by the access criteria
• 500 alternative or outreach post offices would be set up in rural areas, to offset the closures and the Village Retail Service Association (ViRSA) were expected to be involved in this process
• Postwatch were in the process of contacting parish councils on the closure programme
• Closing date for the Government’s consultation process was 8 March 2007

The closure programme of 2002/3 had demonstrated that a six week consultation period following the announcement of closures was insufficient and Postwatch would be campaigning for a 12 week period. It was understood that Postwatch did not have the power to veto proposed closures.

Linda McCord expressed concern that although the Government had recognised the social role of the post office, they had not specifically defined what that role was or how this could affect the closure programme.

Members of the Committee made the following comments:

• Clarification was required as to whether the three miles described in the access criteria was “as the crow flies” or via the available roads or footpaths
• Availability of public transport should be included in the Government’s access criteria
• Some villages were dependent on their post offices as it was their only shop
• Some shops were dependent on revenue from their post office duties
• The closure programme could have a severe impact on the District’s smaller villages
• The impact on small businesses should be considered
• The Government’s policies had ensured that post offices were less viable than before

The Committee agreed to set up an informal task and finish group of Councillors R Hall, Mrs EM Heazell, AG Orgee and Mrs HM Smith. This group will report back to the Committee on how best to respond to the Government’s consultation exercise, basing the proposed response on the Committee’s discussions. The response will be copied in to Postwatch.

The Senior Democratic Services Officer agreed to send the consultation form, with Postwatch’s two page explanation of the consultation process, to all Members.