APPENDIX 9
Memorandum by the Highland Council
I refer to the Trade and Industry Select Committee's
follow-up enquiry into the Royal Mail Group and would like to
take this opportunity to submit some comments for the perspective
of the Highlands of Scotland.
The Highland Council recognises the inevitability
of a rural post office reduction programme, however it is important
that the government, with Post Office Ltd, seeks to sustain a
yet to be defined accessible and basic universal service as the
Government still has an obligation to secure a national network
of post office services which remains reasonably accessible to
all households. The definition of "reasonable access"
still has to be agreed. The Highland Council would be willing
to be involved in discussions about what this should include,
recognising that the variety of road networks and public transport
provision might suggest different solutions for local communities.
With many of the services provided at post offices
still remaining unprofitable it will be important that some public
service subsidy is retained. This will be particularly important
to remote peripheral and rural communities, where access to an
adjacent post office could mean a round trip of over 30 miles.
The Highland Council has seen the experimentation of a range of
new Rural Post Office Services only some of which have been successful.
In the Mid Ross area the Post master at Muir of Ord has sustained
part time rural services to several outlying communities. However
the new mobile service in communities around Wick has not been
successful. It is accepted that this latter service whilst sound
in theory, proved to be difficult to implement in practice. It
is important that with the introduction of any changes in service
provision, that Post Office Ltd have back up plans when new pilot
projects fail as many individuals faced real difficulties with
the failure of the mobile services north and south of Wick.
It must be recognised that Rural Post Office
Services are not simply a public service in their own right. Many
rural post offices exist as part of another private enterprise
such as the running of a rural shop. The partnership approach
is an essential feature of most rural post offices where the demise
of one part of the partnership can undermine the profitability
of the whole business enterprise. The subsidy to Post Office Ltd
to continue the support of rural, and most likely unprofitable,
post office services allowed many wider community services to
be retained.
The Scottish Executive is currently consulting
on the development of a strategy for an ageing population. The
increases in the older population in the Highlands are substantial
with the population 65+ projected to grow by 5,690 people to 2010
and by 24,030 people by 2024. The population 75+ is projected
to grow by 2,768 people to 2010 and 13,721 to 2024 (almost double
its present level). The older people representatives that the
Council consulted with as part of our consultation response indicated
how important rural post offices are as they are often linked
to shops and often form a focus for older people in the community.
It is important that in any rural post office
service reduction programme that communities, households and individuals
are not left with replacement services which have an additional
cost for their usage for example: a cash machine with a usage
charge is not a suitable alternative to a basic post office service.
The Highland Council recognises that there are
many individuals, households and small businesses, who remain
heavily reliant on access to basic postal services and believes
that it is imperative that local authorities are involved in any
service reduction programme that affects rural communities.
4 July 2006
| 
