Petitions
Monday 3 November 2008
Petition presented to the House but not read on the Floor
Public Conveniences (Hull)
The Petition of residents of Hull and others,
Declares their concern at the plans of Hull City Council to reduce staffing at public toilets in the city; and notes that these changes would have a detrimental effect on the safety and cleanliness of the facilities.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to put pressure on Hull City Council to maintain staffing levels at public toilets in the city.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Ms Diana R. Johnson.]
OBSERVATIONS
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Post Office Closures (Angus)
The Petition of the citizens of Glamis and surrounding area,
Declares the Petitioners’ belief that the reduction of Glamis Post Office to an outreach service will have a serious detrimental effect on the local community and will undermine efforts to encourage new businesses in rural Angus.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to instruct Post Office Ltd. to keep Glamis Post Office open.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Mr. Mike Weir , Official Report, 1 July 2008; Vol. 478, c. 836.]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:
The Government fully recognises the important social and economic role of post offices, particularly in rural and deprived urban communities. That is why it is determined to maintain a national post office network allowing people to have reasonable access across the whole country and has put in place a new policy and financial framework to achieve this. The Government has been investing substantial sums in the post office network, totalling £2 billion since 1999. That has, for example, paid for a computer link-up for every post office as well as support for non-commercial branches since 2003.
In its response to the consultation on the Post Office network the Government announced in May 2007 confirmation of its decision to extend funding of up to £1.7 billion to 2011, including provision of £150 million Social Network Payment to support the post office
network up to 2011. The Government strategy includes provision for 2,500 compensated closures and 500 new Outreach services.
The 500 new and innovative Outreach locations, operated in partnership with other local services such as in pubs, village halls, churches or in mobile post offices, will mitigate closures, primarily in smaller and more remote communities. Post Office Limited (POL) announced on 9 April that it will extend Outreach trials into urban areas which, if successful, could mean additional Outreach branches over and above the 500 originally planned. Nevertheless, there will need to be up to 2,500 compensated post office closures within the defined access criteria.
POL is responsible for implementing the network change programme at a local level. It is developing a rolling programme of some 42 local consultations on detailed area plans, based on groups of Parliamentary constituencies. The first area plans went out to local consultation on 2 October last year and these and continued to be rolled out at regular intervals until August, with the whole programme scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The local public consultation on the North East, Tayside and Fife Area Plan proposal, which covers Glamis, ended on 8 July. POL has published its Area Plan Decision Booklet on its website. Having considered all representations and the criteria for the network change programme POL have confirmed that the Glamis branch will remain open. Details of the closures, Outreach services and any further reviews are available on the POL website at: www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.
POL develops its proposals with the participation of sub-postmasters, local authorities and the consumer watchdog, Postwatch, and takes into account the numeric access criteria set out by Government as well as local factors affecting ease of access, such as local geography: rivers, mountains etc when drawing up its implementation plans. POL is also required to consider the availability of public transport and alternative access to key post office services, local demographics and the impact on the local economy. Local consultations provide the opportunity to raise any specific concerns over particular proposals.
The Government does not have a role in proposals or decisions for individual post offices. No decisions on individual Post Offices are taken until after local consultations. Those decisions are made by POL in light of the responses to the consultation while subject to a four-stage appeals process involving Postwatch. The Review Process for closure decisions after public consultation process applies where Postwatch shows that, for an individual branch:
POL has not given due consideration to material evidence received during the public consultation in coming to its decision or;
where evidence emerges from the consultation that the proposal for the branch does not meet the Government’s policy requirements.
The aim of the further review process is for POL and Postwatch to reach an agreed way forward by bilateral review with 3 stages available at increasing levels of seniority. An additional stage to the review process was added last November for very difficult cases which remain unresolved after stage 3; in such cases Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail Group will review the issues and reach a final decision.
Post Office Closures (Bedfordshire)
The Petition of customers of Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard Post Office,
Declares that they strongly protest against the closure of their local Post Office.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to keep Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard Post Office open for the benefit of the local community, and especially the elderly and disabled, and all those who would find it particularly difficult to travel to other Post Offices.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Andrew Selous , Official Report, 21 July 2008; Vol. 479, c. 620.]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:
The Government fully recognises the important social and economic role of post offices, particularly in rural and deprived urban communities. That is why it is determined to maintain a national post office network allowing people to have reasonable access across the whole country and has put in place a new policy and financial framework to achieve this. The Government has been investing substantial sums in the post office network, totalling £2 billion since 1999. That has, for example, paid for a computer link-up for every post office as well as support for non-commercial branches since 2003.
In its response to the consultation on the Post Office network the Government announced in May 2007 confirmation of its decision to extend funding of up to £1.7 billion to 2011, including provision of £150 million Social Network Payment to support the post office network up to 2011. The Government strategy includes provision for 2,500 compensated closures and 500 new Outreach services.
The 500 new and innovative Outreach locations, operated in partnership with other local services such as in pubs, village halls, churches or in mobile post offices, will mitigate closures, primarily in smaller and more remote communities. Post Office Limited (POL) announced on 9 April that it will extend Outreach trials into urban areas which, if successful, could mean additional Outreach branches over and above the 500 originally planned. Nevertheless, there will need to be up to 2,500 compensated post office closures within the defined access criteria.
POL is responsible for implementing the network change programme at a local level. It is developing a rolling programme of some 50 local consultations on detailed area plans, based on groups of Parliamentary constituencies. The first area plans went out to local consultation on 2 October last year and these plans were rolled out at regular intervals until August, with the whole programme scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The consultation period for Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and South Lincolnshire has finished and POL has published its Area Plan Decision Booklet on its website. Having considered all representations and the criteria for the network change programme POL has confirmed that the Hockliffe Street post office
in Leighton Buzzard is to close. Details of the closures and any further reviews are available on the POL website at: www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.
POL develops its proposals with the participation of sub-postmasters, local authorities and the consumer watchdog, Postwatch, and takes into account the numeric access criteria set out by Government as well as local factors affecting ease of access, such as local geography: rivers, mountains etc when drawing up its implementation plans. POL is also required to consider the availability of public transport and alternative access to key post office services, local demographics and the impact on the local economy. Local consultations provide the opportunity to raise any specific concerns over particular proposals.
The Government does not have a role in proposals or decisions for individual post offices. No decisions on individual Post Offices are taken until after local consultations. Those decisions are made by POL in light of the responses to the consultation while subject to a four-stage appeals process involving Postwatch. The Review Process for closure decisions after public consultation process applies where Postwatch shows that, for an individual branch:
POL has not given due consideration to material evidence received during the public consultation in coming to its decision or;
where evidence emerges from the consultation that the proposal for the branch does not meet the Government's policy requirements.
The aim of the further review process is for POL and Postwatch to reach an agreed way forward by bilateral review with 3 stages available at increasing levels of seniority. An additional stage to the review process was added last November for very difficult cases which remain unresolved after stage 3; in such cases Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail Group, will review the issues and reach a final decision.
The Petition of customers of High Street South, Dunstable Post Office,
Declares that they strongly protest against the closure of their local Post Office.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to keep High Street South, Dunstable Post Office open for the benefit of the local community, and especially the elderly and disabled, and all those who would find it particularly difficult to travel to other Post Offices.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Andrew Selous , Official Report, 21 July 2008; Vol. 479, c. 621.]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:
The Government fully recognises the important social and economic role of post offices, particularly in rural and deprived urban communities. That is why it is determined to maintain a national post office network allowing people to have reasonable access across the whole country and has put in place a new policy and financial framework to achieve this. The Government has been investing substantial sums in the post office network, totalling £2 billion since 1999. That has, for example, paid for a computer link-up for every post office as well as support for non-commercial branches since 2003.
In its response to the consultation on the Post Office network the Government announced in May 2007 confirmation of its decision to extend funding of up to £1.7 billion to 2011, including provision of £150 million Social Network Payment to support the post office network up to 2011. The Government strategy includes provision for 2,500 compensated closures and 500 new Outreach services.
The 500 new and innovative Outreach locations, operated in partnership with other local services such as in pubs, village halls, churches or in mobile post offices, will mitigate closures, primarily in smaller and more remote communities. Post Office Limited (POL) announced on 9 April that it will extend Outreach trials into urban areas which, if successful, could mean additional Outreach branches over and above the 500 originally planned. Nevertheless, there will need to be up to 2,500 compensated post office closures within the defined access criteria.
POL is responsible for implementing the network change programme at a local level. It is developing a rolling programme of some 50 local consultations on detailed area plans, based on groups of Parliamentary constituencies. The first area plans went out to local consultation on 2 October last year and these plans were rolled out at regular intervals until August, with the whole programme scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The consultation period for Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and South Lincolnshire has finished and POL has published its Area Plan Decision Booklet on its website. Having considered all representations and the criteria for the network change programme POL has confirmed that the High Street South post office in Dunstable is to close. Details of the closures and any further reviews will be available on the POL website at: www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.
POL develops its proposals with the participation of sub-postmasters, local authorities and the consumer watchdog, Postwatch, and takes into account the numeric access criteria set out by Government as well as local factors affecting ease of access, such as local geography: rivers, mountains etc when drawing up its implementation plans. POL is also required to consider the availability of public transport and alternative access to key post office services, local demographics and the impact on the local economy. Local consultations provide the opportunity to raise any specific concerns over particular proposals.
The Government does not have a role in proposals or decisions for individual post offices. No decisions on individual Post Offices are taken until after local consultations. Those decisions are made by POL in light of the responses to the consultation while subject to a four-stage appeals process involving Postwatch. The Review Process for closure decisions after public consultation process applies where Postwatch shows that, for an individual branch:
POL has not given due consideration to material evidence received during the public consultation in coming to its decision or;
where evidence emerges from the consultation that the proposal for the branch does not meet the Government's policy requirements.
The aim of the further review process is for POL and Postwatch to reach an agreed way forward by bilateral review with 3 stages available at increasing levels of seniority. An additional stage to the review process was added last November for very difficult cases which
remain unresolved after stage 3; in such cases Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail Group, will review the issues and reach a final decision.
The Petition of customers of Luton Road, Dunstable Post Office,
Declares that they strongly protest against the closure of their local Post Office.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to keep Luton Road, Dunstable Post Office open for the benefit of the local community, and especially the elderly and disabled, and all those who would find it particularly difficult to travel to other Post Offices.
And the Petitioners remain, etc. —[Presented by Andrew Selous , Official Report, 21 July 2008; Vol. 479, c. 621.]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:
The Government fully recognises the important social and economic role of post offices, particularly in rural and deprived urban communities. That is why it is determined to maintain a national post office network allowing people to have reasonable access across the whole country and has put in place a new policy and financial framework to achieve this. The Government has been investing substantial sums in the post office network, totalling £2 billion since 1999. That has, for example, paid for a computer link-up for every post office as well as support for non-commercial branches since 2003.
In its response to the consultation on the Post Office network the Government announced in May 2007 confirmation of its decision to extend funding of up to £1.7 billion to 2011, including provision of £150 million Social Network Payment to support the post office network up to 2011. The Government strategy includes provision for 2,500 compensated closures and 500 new Outreach services.
The 500 new and innovative Outreach locations, operated in partnership with other local services such as in pubs, village halls, churches or in mobile post offices, will mitigate closures, primarily in smaller and more remote communities. Post Office Limited (POL) announced on 9 April that it will extend Outreach trials into urban areas which, if successful, could mean additional Outreach branches over and above the 500 originally planned. Nevertheless, there will need to be up to 2,500 compensated post office closures within the defined access criteria.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |