Memorandum submitted by Nottingham County
Council
POST OFFICE
WEB FORUM
I am writing on behalf of Nottingham City Council
in response to the web forum launched to help shape the future
of the postal services network. Nottingham City Council has worked
hard to influence the decision making process and the Post Office
network's presence within the City before, during and after the
Network Closure Programme. The City Council would like to take
this opportunity to input into this next round of public consultation
being carried out by the Committee, particularly in relation to
the new services that could help make the network more profitable
and help reduce the subsidy the network receives. The City Council
have particularly looked at the services it provides as a local
authority and the services that could potentially be introduced
to the Post Office network in Nottingham.
Nottingham City Council submitted a wealth of
information as part of the consultation process for the Network
Closure Programme to demonstrate the importance of retaining postal
services as close to our communities as possible and the detrimental
impact the closure programme would bring. Four Post Offices in
Nottingham were closed however in March 2008. Following the closures,
Nottingham City Council worked in partnership with the community,
businesses and Post Office Limited to identify any options for
reinstatement and lessen the huge impact the closures had locally.
Despite the commissioning of an external consultant to look at
lost post office service reinstatement, and surveys conducted
with businesses and local residents confirming the detrimental
effects that the closures had resulted in and hardships now being
faced, Post Office Limited refused to move from their original
decision. Looking to the future, Nottingham City Council are committed
to ensuring the long term viability of the remaining network in
Nottingham and we view this consultation exercise as the first
opportunity to raise the potential joined up delivery options
between Post Office and local authorities that could be explored
further.
The below summarises local authority services
that have been highlighted by Nottingham City Council as having
the potential to be introduced into the Post Office network. It
is worth stressing at this stage that Nottingham City Council
have carried out a broad scoping exercise across the authority
in compiling this response and the suggestions outlined below.
There has been no detailed discussion about transferring Council
services into the Post Office network, nor does our submission
imply that we would be in a position to transfer services in the
future. We wish this paper to demonstrate our desire to contribute
where possible to designing new and innovative approaches to providing
services that meet the needs of our local communities.
1. Counter financial transactions
Nottingham City Homes (NCH) is the City Council's
housing ALMO. NCH currently has ten area housing offices in the
city, nine of which process financial transactions. These nine
offices process approximately 265,000 financial transactions
per annum from customers who still choose to pay their rent or
council tax in person. The building and staffing overheads involved
in this make it an inefficient means of collecting monies, with
an approximate average cost in excess of £2.00 per transaction.
Customers are also able to make such payments
at their local Post Office. The City Council has a contract in
place to pay Post Office Services for each transaction they process,
on the following scale:
£0.45 for each transaction up to 99,999 per
annum.
£0.43 for each transaction between
100,000 and 249,999 per annum.
£0.41 for each transaction over 250,000 per
annum.
Clearly, for NCH this is a significantly cheaper
option than processing payments at housing offices.
Hypothetically, if NCH were to cease collecting
monies at all of their housing offices and each of these customers
chose instead to make payments at their local Post Office, it
would generate an additional income of £108,650 for
the Post Office service in Nottingham.
NCH's primary aim is not to transfer services
to alternative providers, but to look to reduce the amount of
money they spend on office locations and re-invest these resources
and staffing costs in a more meaningful way.
2. Document checking service
E.g. council tax registration or certain elements
of housing benefit administration. A commission could be paid
on a similar basis to the rent collection example discussed previously,
although the commission would likely to be greater for the Post
Office as more work would be involved.
3. IT and information point
A community facility for customers to email
the Council, access information on Council services, access the
Council web site, or make electronic payments for one-off bills.
A charge could be levied by the Post Office for the Council to
rent the space for such a hub. This would be a permanent fixture
and therefore a reliable source of income for the Post Office.
This may have been pioneered by Essex County Council.
4. Outlet for consultation exercises
A facility for the Council to position displays,
response forms, staff, etc for any community consultation exercises.
Again, a charge could be levied for renting the space, but such
exercises would be infrequent and therefore not a reliable source
of income for the Post Office.
5. Surgeries
The Council could rent space in Post Offices
to hold surgeries, eg Neighbourhood Managers or Community Protection
Officers, to take messages to the community or discuss specific
problems or issues in an area. Again, such exercises may not be
frequent and therefore not a reliable source of income.
6. Improve existing service
There is a feeling that Post Offices could do
more to help themselves by investing time and business expertise
in developing the existing "shop" side of the business,
eg food, stationery items, etc. An image that many people have
of Post Office shops is one of poorly stocked, dusty shelves and
overpriced items. This image is certainly not true in all cases,
but investing in this side of the business could help to make
Post Offices more profitable.
I trust you will find this information useful
to consider as part of the consultation exercise and go some way
in shaping the recommendations the committee will make to the
government. We would welcome a continued dialogue with the Committee
and/or with central government around these issues to influence
the shape of the post office service in Nottingham in the future.
March 2009
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