Memorandum submitted by North Yorkshire
County Council (POS 7)
As the officer employed by North Yorkshire County
Council responsible for putting together the Authority's response
to the proposed post office closures in our area, I am responding
to your request for evidence to your inquiry examining post office
branch closures.
The Government's Forward Strategy on post offices
does not provide a clear, long term view—communities and
businesses want to see longer-term stability for the Network based
on a clear Government Vision.
It is unlikely that post offices in rural areas
or in urban deprived wards can ever be fully sustainable; however
Government policy in other areas (including the Local Transport
Plan, social inclusion plans, planning guidance, etc.) emphasises
the importance of retaining local access to services for the social
and community benefits to maintain sustainable communities and
ensure fair access to services. The Sustainable Communities Act
strongly and clearly advocates the retention of local services
to avoid the ghetto-isation of communities. Policy has previously
stated that access to post offices, amongst other services, should
be retained to increase financial and social inclusion and to
ensure that no community is unduly disadvantaged by where they
live—residents in these areas have a right to be able to
access a basic level of services.
North Yorkshire County Council's primary focus
has been on whether Post Office Ltd's proposals meet the minimum
access criteria. We have also used our local intelligence and
research capacity to examine whether local factors such as public
transport arrangements, pertinent topographical features, demographics
and the impact on the local economy have been taken into account.
A number of inaccuracies have been found in the Post Office's
Branch Access Reports eg in terms of public transport provision
and disabled access.
The County Council recognises the need for change,
as a result of changes in society (such as increasing use of the
internet) however at the same time is concerned that the proposed
Post Office closures in North Yorkshire—in the form of an
outright closure or replacement outreach service—will have
a severe impact on the most vulnerable in society.
The impact of closure or a reduced limited hours
outreach service will be especially serious for older people both
in remote communities and in urban areas where there are a number
of issues involving access to alternative post offices. The lack
of nearby parking at some of the alternative branches is a concern.
North Yorkshire has an ageing population that is, and will continue
to be, higher than the national average. It has significantly
large tracts of hilly or steep terrain in comparison to most areas
of the country, posing particular challenges for the elderly and
disabled and those without access to a car. The branch closures
proposed in some of our deprived wards will also exacerbate existing
levels of financial and social exclusion there.
The one mile radius used to calculate the population
age profiles is in many instances misleading. Individual Post
Office branches often serve a wider area than this—hence
the proportion of retired people using a branch will be much higher
than the figures listed in the Branch Access Reports. However,
even the figures calculated on the percentage of retired people
living within one mile of the branch show that most of the branches
being proposed for closure in North Yorkshire are located in settlements
with a retired population of well over 20%—the highest being
35%!
The likely impact on local economies does not
appear to have been taken into account by the Post Office when
drawing up its Area Plans. This is particularly so where a branch
is connected to an adjoining business such as a shop. Branch closure
will impact on the sustainability of the associated business.
A number of branches being proposed for closure
in North Yorkshire are busy and profitable Post Office branches.
This begs the question why they are being closed—other than
ensuring that the Post Office meets the figure of 2,500 closures
across the country. Also of concern is that a number of branches
on the closure list already act as "receiving branches"
for branches that have closed in the past.
It is also dismaying to note that even if a
branch being proposed for closure is eventually "saved"
following the consultation, another branch not currently on the
list within the Area Plan will have to be identified for closure
to ensure that the figure of 2,500 closures is met nationally.
Insufficient information has been made available
on the arrangements for the planned outreach services. It is not
clear for instance what type of outreach is being proposed in
most of the areas earmarked for this sort of provision; whether
consideration has been given to the potential problem of there
not being sufficient DDA compliant facilities in an area; or whether
anyone would be willing to provide an outreach service.
The issue of low footfall in some branches could
be addressed through means other than closure/introduction of
an outreach service—flexibility in the hours that the post
office can open would encourage residents to use their post office
(for example many residents would like to see evening opening
hours but currently postmasters cannot be paid for evening opening).
This is particularly important where the post office is incorporated
within the sole shop in a community.
Where outreach services are introduced, thorough
local consultation should be undertaken; with clear communication
with resident populations to ensure they understand the new service
so that the customer base is not further diminished. As yet there
is no evidence to show that the Post Office will be doing this.
Outreach services need to be regular and reliable.
Anecdotal evidence that we have received suggests that some villages
being proposed for outreach in North Yorkshire may be provided
with as little as two hours a week. Such limited provision is
unacceptable in view of the access problems that residents will
be faced with at all other times—be it in terms of physical
barriers, poor or non-existent public transport links to a neighbouring
branch, and the sheer distance that they will have to travel to
access Post Office services.
Some of the areas proposed for branch closure/replacement
with outreach are located in or near to areas proposed for housing
development. The Post Office does not seem to have taken this
into account and instead is relying upon the local authorities
to draw this information to their attention.
Individual Parish Councils in our area have
commented that they have not been approached by the Post Office
for their views even though they have been listed as a "consultee"
in the Post Office's Area Plan.
7 January 2008
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