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A number of years ago, one of my local post offices closed, but we were able to get it put into an Asda superstore. People were up in arms at Asda running the post office, but the footfall increased from about 80 a month to about 80 an hour. Why did that happen? Because to shop at Asda, which has a turnover of more than £1 million a week, people had to go through the post office. This has been a boost and a boon to the village. This is about explaining things and engaging
people, and it is about a sense of ownership: doing things with people rather than doing them to people. Again, I give an assurance about discussions on the particular branch that has been mentioned.
The hon. Gentleman raised the issue of the Charing Cross branch announced as part of the deal. May I just say for the record that we are talking not about the Charing Cross branch in London, but about Charing Cross in Birkenhead? I did not know that there were two Charing Crosses of such significance. Birkenhead is certainly significant in terms of the north-west.
Franchising is not about a closure programme. Franchising and conversions are not about reducing the number of post offices; they are about trying to improve and sustain the network. One thing that Post Office Ltd has is expertise in negotiation about franchising. It has lots of experience of that. A decade ago, that was taken from it, and some of the post offices have gone. Who knows whether they would have remained open as a commercial enterprise or whether the sites would have been cleared for other commercial purposes? However, the fact that we have been able to save these means that we have the opportunity, over the next 10 years, to ensure that each of the Crown post offices is in a place that will be accessible to the existing customer base and will allow that customer base to increase. That is certainly true in urban areas, where a great deal of public and private investment is regenerating shopping centres, building new places for shopping and putting in place new transport infrastructure. It is important that we can take account of the impact of that, which is sometimes negative. If that means reaching a genuine arrangement whereby the Post Office gives a franchise that maintains and improves services and increases access to them, hon. Members should move forward sensitively with their constituents. However, as the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey said, constituents need to be consulted and engaged with so that they are brought into the programme of work. I repeat that I give the hon. Gentleman a commitment on that.
I will write to the hon. Member for Richmond Park about the specifics of the Richmond post office and arrange a meeting with her about WH Smith. I will make the same arrangements for the constituency of the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill). Having been here all day, the very least that he can get is something out of the Minister.
Adjourned accordingly at six minutes past Three o’clock.
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