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DELEGATED LEGISLATION
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6)(Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation),
Broadcasting
- That the draft Broadcasting (Independent Productions) (Amendment) Order 2003, which was laid before this House on 1st May, be approved.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
Andrew Selous (South-West Bedfordshire): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I correct
slightly a statement that I made during Prime Minister's Question Time today? I was correct in saying that there had been a fivefold increase in the number of work permits, but it has happened since 1997 rather than over the past year. I welcome this opportunity to put that on the record.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Sylvia Heal): I thank the hon. Gentleman for his courtesy in informing the House of that mistake.
PETITIONS
Community Pharmacies
7.16 pm
Mrs. Alice Mahon (Halifax): I wish to present a petition from Ruth Ingham and others.
- That the removal of restrictions on pharmacies able to dispense NHS prescriptions will have a detrimental effect on local chemists.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government both to reject proposals that would allow unrestricted opening of pharmacies able to dispense NHS prescriptions and to preserve local pharmacies and safeguard their continued services to local communities.
And the Petitioners remain etc.
Village Post Offices
Mr. Michael Clapham (Barnsley, West and Penistone): The petition of 307 residents of the village of Ward Green in the constituency of Barnsley, West and Penistone declares:
- That the proposed closure of the village Post Office by Post Office Ltd will have a negative impact on the community because of the inconvenience caused particularly to elderly residents.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons ask that the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry intervene and stop the proposed closure.
And the Petitioners remain etc.
Postwatch
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
7.17 pm
Mr. Christopher Chope (Christchurch): The Government's programme of deliberately closing 3,000 post offices in urban areas is now biting hard. At the end of April, 447 proposals for closure had been put forward to Postwatch. I am told that, so far, 205 branches have closed under the programme.
I have long opposed that vicious assault on a key pillar of the social fabric of urban England. It gives me no satisfaction to report that my experience of what has been happening in the Christchurch constituency has justified my worst fears, as expressed in previous debates and questions in the House.
Last November, I challenged the Prime Minister on having reneged on his promise, made prior to the 2001 general election, that he would do everything in his power to enable all post offices to become general Government practitioners. Indeed, the Government are using £180 million of taxpayers' money to bribe up to 3,000 sub-postmasters to withdraw their services from the public.
The ostensible reason for the Government's policy U-turn was that the conclusions from the evaluation of the "Your Guide" pilot of post offices as general Government practitioners were that if such a service were rolled out nationally it would not represent value for money. However, everyone close to the subject knows that that was specious and disingenuous. There certainly cannot be worse value for money than bribing sub-postmasters with 28 times their monthly income to close down. We have reached a situation where the size of the bribes, which average £60,000 and are often nearer to £100,000, is far greater than the market value of the good will.
True to new Labour, however, the Government do not want to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions. That is where Postwatch comes in. If Postwatch does not object to the closures, the Government are off the hook. Fortunately, Postwatch is objecting—and more vociferously than it has in the past.
Postwatch was set up under the Postal Services Act 2000 as a replacement for the old Post Office Users National Council. Its principal statutory objectives, according to its annual report, are to protect, promote and develop the interests of all customers of postal services in the United Kingdom. In 2002 it received grant in aid from the Department of Trade and Industry of between £8 million and £9 million. I accept that that is dwarfed by the £438 million net administration costs of the Department, which have risen by more than 40 per cent. in four years, but it remains a significant sum of money.
Postwatch is accountable to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The purpose of this debate is to ensure that the Secretary of State is properly accountable to Postwatch and, through it, to those who depend, like so many of my constituents, on an extensive urban post office network.
Postwatch has negotiated a key role in the consultative process over post office closures. It is given privileged access by the Post Office to details of branches
proposed for closure two weeks before any public announcement is made or MPs are informed. It can then participate in the public consultation, which takes place over the following 28 days. During that public consultation, however, it is not allowed to share with the public the vital information that is essential for proper public evaluation and discussion of any closure proposal or alternatives.It is clear from the Christchurch experience—Stanpit and Town Common sub-post offices were involved—that a public consultation period of only four weeks is far from adequate. It is not enough time for public meetings to be convened or for information that comes to light to be fully investigated by Postwatch. I recognise the need for reasonable speed, but surely the period for consultation could be extended to six weeks, even if it meant Postwatch forgoing its two weeks of privileged access. Something urgent must also be done to ensure that all the facts are available to inform public debate on proposed closures.
Closure proposals are now coming forward at a rate of between 16 and 30 every week. Amazingly, however, there is no ostensible plan underlying them. That became apparent in Christchurch when, on the day after the decision was announced to close Stanpit post office—despite the strongest possible representations from Postwatch, local residents, councillors, and, indeed, myself—it was announced that Town Common post office was proposed for closure. That prompted me to inquire why the overall plan for future post office provision in Christchurch had not been published.
Postwatch took the point up with the south-west region of the Post Office, but was told that there was no plan and that closures were carried out on an ad hoc basis in response to individual requests by postmasters to close down their service. I am told that there are now more than 3,000 applications by postmasters to take the money—more applications than can be satisfied. There is still no plan. If I were the Minister, I would regard it as extraordinarily irresponsible for the Post Office to proceed in this way with what is effectively a business reorganisation, particularly when funded with £180 million of taxpayers' money.
The Post Office will not even discuss the number of closures planned for different parts of the country. For example, it is rumoured in the south-west—only one of nine Post Office regions in England—that as many as 1,000 urban sub-offices are to be closed. That is one third of the national total, which is extremely worrying, but there is no opportunity for open debate because the key information is suppressed.
Postwatch is also concerned about reports that Post Office managers responsible for the urban reinvention programme are to receive a 25 per cent. salary bonus if they reach their target of closures. Why have the targets in individual areas not been shared with Postwatch? When Stanpit post office was closed, despite Postwatch's objections, there was a strong feeling that Postwatch was not being taken seriously. In respect of the Town Common post office, a regional review meeting is taking place tomorrow.
But such a review meeting will not be of any substance if the outcome has already been pre-empted by a binding contract between the Post Office and the sub-postmaster. That problem occurred in the case of the
closure of Downside post office in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous). I am delighted that he is in his place and will participate, albeit briefly, in the debate. While I welcome the instigation of a regional review, I find it disturbing that the Post Office has not been willing to disclose to Postwatch, in advance of tomorrow's meeting, whether it is already irrevocably and contractually bound to pay compensation to the sub-postmaster at Town Common, irrespective of the outcome of the consultation.The Post Office says that it is still intent on ensuring that 95 per cent. of people in urban areas live within a mile of the local post office, but that is a national figure rather than one with any local validity. In Christchurch, the proposed closure of Town Common post office will result in several thousand more residents living more than a mile from their nearest post office.
The Minister rejected a suggestion that I made during the Easter Adjournment debate that the Government should decide closure cases if Postwatch had raised serious objections. He said that he would not become involved because the matters were commercial decisions for the Post Office. I call on him again to become more involved, because it is apparent that a lot of taxpayers' money is being wasted on subsidising the closures of the "wrong" sub-post offices. That is certainly the situation in west Christchurch where, as a result of gaining access to information about the number of basic transaction hours expended on Post Office business, it has become apparent that the post office identified as an alternative, in Barrack road, currently has less business than Town Common, which is scheduled for closure. Furthermore, the Barrack road post office has recently been acquired by Tesco, and there is no guarantee that Tesco will wish to maintain it as a post office in the long term.
Those points were made in a strong letter by the south and west regional chairman of Postwatch, Charles Howeson, to the Royal Mail Group, dated 18 March 2003. He said:
- "The Post Office at Town Common serves a significant percentage of Christchurch's residents, 27 per cent. of the electorate, as highlighted in various representations to you, not least at the public meeting held on...13th March. Indeed, your own figures record that Town Common Post Office undertakes significantly more postal transactions than Stourvale . . . Far from the half an hour a day's transactions being undertaken as stated . . . at the meeting, the office undertakes between 2.5-3.0 a day—six times the figure quoted...the fact that your migration modelling only predicted that 22 per cent. of Town Common's customers would transfer to this branch is indicative of the non-viability of the proposal: people will not/cannot access this branch."
What has happened as a result of that letter? No notice appears to have been taken of it and the Post Office has confirmed that Town Common post office will close at the beginning of June. That resulted in the regional secretary of Postwatch, Mr. Hepburn, writing to the Royal Mail Group to request an appeal. That letter, dated 1 May, made the point that the Royal Mail Group had not satisfactorily considered and addressed all the issues that were raised by the proposal. It also requested an early meeting. That meeting will take place
tomorrow and I hope that it will result in a reprieve for Town Common post office and all the people who use it, many of whom are pensioners.The role of Postwatch goes further than objecting to closure when it is not the right solution. Postwatch's involvement goes to the heart of the viability of the post office network, and that is why I was very interested in some of the information it gave to the Trade and Industry Committee. Postwatch gave oral evidence yesterday and had already produced written evidence. It makes it clear that in its view the actions of the Post Office and the Government are deliberately undermining the viability of what remains of the post office network. Postwatch is concerned about the introduction of the new card for the direct payment of benefits and the mixed messages about that. It is very worried about the contrived and complicated process that ordinary citizens have to go through to get access to a post office card account. It seems as if the whole process has been designed to deter people from applying for such an account.
Tellingly, Postwatch also makes the point that the cost of running a post office is going up, with the minimum wage rising from October to £4.50. In an annexe to its evidence to the Committee, it shows that the individual transaction payments received by post offices for card account, bank and other transactions are wholly inadequate if they are to survive in the longer term, let alone the near term. It is extremely concerned and critical of the Government's involvement in what I regard as a conspiracy substantially to reduce our post office network.
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