Examination of Witnesses (Questions 200-212)
POST OFFICE
LIMITED
30 NOVEMBER 2005
Q200 Linda Perham: So you agree with
that even though in your memo you said that was a problem?
Mr Mills: We were specifically
referring to the point of advising MPs and local authorities before
we advised our staff. We thought that was an inappropriate act
because we could be talking about redundancy for one member of
staff and/or the impact on their families. It seems wrong to be
consulting MPs about that before telling our staff.
Q201 Linda Perham: How long would you
allow for consulting employees and would you then, the following
week, go out to external stakeholders?
Mr Mills: Yes.
Q202 Linda Perham: How many weeks would
you have for consulting staff?
Mr Mills: We do not consult staff,
they would be told. It is an issue of advising staff, assuming
that we have already agreed with our staff representatives this
is the direction that we are going in. As I said to you earlier,
we have not agreed how we are going to move forward on the directly
managed branches with our unions yet and we really are actively
trying to get agreement.
Q203 Linda Perham: If you are just advising
staff that would not take much time at all, would it?
Mr Mills: No, that is quite correct.
Q204 Linda Perham: And so you could go
straight out after that?
Mr Mills: Yes.
Chairman: I think a number of us have
been placed in a position where we maybe could have been given
information. Certainly in my own case I have rejected the offer
of information because I knew roughly what was going to happen,
that it would be more appropriate for the workers to be told before
the Member of Parliament. I would not be very popular with my
constituents if I knew before they did and I did not tell them,
I think it would put us in an invidious position. In some respects
Postwatch, maybe with the best of intentions, have got the wrong
end of the stick here as far as that side of it is concerned.
Q205 Richard Burden: I think there may
have been a misunderstanding. I do not know what Postwatch were
saying. The demand that has come forward for earlier consultation
and involvement, whether it be of MPs or whatever and local authorities,
has not been about earlier consultation on a decision made, the
demand is for earlier consultation on a range of options and strategies.
I am not aware that the unions representing your staff would have
any problem with that earlier consultation of external stakeholders,
in fact they might like to be involved in it themselves.
Mr Leighton: Clearly the purpose
of the consultation is how you get a good solution rather than
what is the solution. There is no correlation between a four week
consultation and a 12 week consultation and a better result because
in the end everybody hates the result anyway, you are just making
people feel better. Just on the Crown offices point, because of
the lack of scale of what we are talking about the ability to
be tailored is much easier than it is when it is 2,500 of these
and I think that is something we will take away.
Q206 Mr Hoyle: You said if closures take
place TUPE would apply and that you would find people alternative
jobs. Mr Mills has just said you do not consult because there
could be redundancies. That is different from what you have said
earlier.
Sir Michael Hodgkinson: Not necessarily.
Q207 Mr Hoyle: I just want to be clear.
Earlier I was told you do not have redundancies.
Mr Mills: There are no compulsory
redundancies.
Q208 Mr Hoyle: What message can you give
my constituents when you have said to them not to worry when a
post office is closed because they will be able to use the post
office next door to the general post office in the centre of Chorley?
I just wonder what we tell them in the meantime.
Mr Leighton: Where there is noise
then we have to have some certainty to it.
Q209 Mr Hoyle: They were promised that
we were closing this, but the backup to this is the general post
office. Now there is a question mark because of Patricia Hewitt
and her question in the Chamber. We have to get rid of the uncertainty.
When do the five get announced for the forthcoming year?
Mr Mills: We will let you know
when we announce them.
Q210 Mr Evans: What is the timescale?
Mr Mills: I am sorry, I cannot
tell you.
Q211 Mr Evans: Do you know?
Mr Mills: No.
Mr Leighton: Let us have a conversation
about how much information we think we might be able to push out
to the individuals concerned. We are talking about five or six
here, not 500 or 600.
Q212 Chairman: Thank you very much for
your time. We will get back to you on one or two points of detail.
Mr Leighton: Thank you, Chairman.
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