Letter from Peter Bone MP
Thank you for your letter of 6 December 2007
in which you request written responses regarding the Post Office
closure programme and consultation process.
In my constituency of Wellingborough five proposed
Post Office closures were announced on 20 November 2007. The closing
date for responses to the consultation is the 10 January 2008.
Therefore, as I write this letter, we have had the pre-consultation
and virtually the whole of the consultation period but have not
had the results of the consultation.
The pre-consultation process in my area was
largely a farce. Clearly some sub-postmasters and mistresses knew
what was going on but others had no knowledge whatsoever.
As Member of Parliament I was not involved in
the pre-consultation. However, the Post Office did promise to
inform me in advance of the branches selected to be closed so
that I would be in a position to properly respond to when they
were actually announced. I understand some MPs in my region were
given up to a week's notice but this was not offered to me. I
was offered a meeting a day before the proposed announcement to
lean of the proposals. I rearranged my diary to facilitate such
a meeting but shortly before it was due to take place, Post Office
cancelled the meeting. The only way I learned in advance of which
Post Offices were to close was through the front page story of
my local newspaper.
The consultation period lasted 51 days from
the 20 November 2007 to 10 January 2008. I would make two comments
about this period.
First, 51 days is an exceptionally short period
to make people aware of a major local issue; to organise meetings;
to prepare arguments, and to respond to the Post Office.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the
consultation period covered the Christmas and New Year break when
many individuals were away, organisations shut and prominent stakeholders
not available. I myself was away on a family holiday during this
period. It has been impossible to provide a proper response to
the very significant changes to the structure of some of the communities
in my constituency.
I find it hard to believe that there would have
been any significant damage to the Post Office in delaying the
start of the consultation process to 2 January 2008. It is clear
to me that a short consultation period should not be allowed to
coincide with holiday periods.
One of the factors I found most disturbing was
that some of the sub-postmasters and mistresses affected had been
threatened that if they spoke out against the proposed closures
this would affect the level of compensation they would get if
their Post Office did in fact close. I thought that this was extraordinary
behaviour on behalf of the Post Office.
It was also felt that the consultation documents
did not make it clear why certain Post Offices had been singled
out for closure. Whilst some of the closures proposed were for
Post Offices that received a subsidy and had relatively few customers,
others were profitable and serve vital village communities. As
the sub-postmistress in Little Harrowden told me when she found
out her Post Office was on the list, she was filled with a sense
of shock and horror. As a busy Post Office serving four villages
she could not understand why her Post Office had been selected.
Also the Post Office did not make it clear in
the consultation why Wellingborough had been singled out for a
disproportionately large number of closures. Given the fact that
my constituency had already suffered a recent closure programme
of around 10 branches, why another five had been selected has
not been made clear.
It is also strange that the Post Office has
not seemed to take into consideration the planned huge expansion
of houses in my area owing to the South Midlands and Milton Keynes
spatial core strategy which will see a 50% rise in dwellings in
the local area. Moreover, thousands of new homes are planned to
be built around the site of one of the Post Offices which is on
the proposed closure list.
The final point I would like to make is that
the Post Office not made it clear as to when the results of the
consultation will be announced. In its literature sent to me and
other stakeholders the Post Office does not state when the results
of the consultation will be announced.
I hope that the Committee finds my comments
of interest and help in its work.
8 January 2008
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