1 Introduction
1. The coalition Government published the Postal
Services Bill 2010-11 on 13 October 2010. The Bill received
its second reading on 27 October and the proceedings in Public
Bill Committee concluded on 9 December. The remaining stages
of the Bill in the Commons will be taken on the floor of the House
on Wednesday 12 January 2011.
2. We launched our inquiry into Postal Services
in Scotland on 28 October 2010, with a view to publishing
our Report before the Bill completes its passage through the House.
The purpose of our inquiry is to consider the potential impact
and consequences of the provisions in the Bill on postal services
in Scotland. We are particularly concerned with two key issues:
(i) the maintenance of a universal service and; (ii) the continuation
of a sustainable Post Office network across Scotland, as it has
"a critical role to play in supporting sustainable communities
in Scotland".[1] The
purpose of our inquiry is not to comment on the broad parameters
of the Bill. The major issues of privatisation and the pension
deficit, for example, are UK wide issues, and the merits and pitfalls
of these proposals have been considered widely elsewhere.
3. Scotland has a third of the landmass of the
United Kingdom, but less than 9% of its population.[2]
Scotland is large and overwhelmingly rural. Some of the issues
highlighted in this Report would apply to other parts of the United
Kingdom, in particular to rural and remote communities. However,
much of Scotland is remote, difficult to access and, importantly,
not on a transport route to somewhere else—in particular
the Highlands and Islands. These factors complicate the provision
of postal services in Scotland and the provisions in the Bill
may therefore have specific and far reaching consequences for
Scotland. In this Report, we highlight some of those issues, and,
where possible, make recommendations as to how the Bill could
be changed, or future action be taken, to safeguard the provision
of a universal service and maintain a sustainable Post Office
network throughout Scotland.
4. We took oral evidence from: Consumer Focus
Scotland and the National Federation of SubPostmasters; from Mutuo;
the Communication Workers Union and Unite; from Post Office Limited
and the Royal Mail Group; Postcomm; Ofcom and from Edward Davey
MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Business,
Innovation and Skills.
5. We travelled to Oban, in Argyll, on 6 December,
where we visited the local delivery office which serves the north
Argyll coast and several of the islands of the Inner Hebrides,
and met with local postal service users. We also visited Dalmally
Post Office, a rural Post Office/ pharmacy that also acts as a
base for 'Outreach' services in the area.[3]
In Glasgow we met representatives of Scottish Enterprise and the
Federation of Small Businesses, and visited the Glasgow Mail Centre
and Pollok Post Office — the latter being the first joint
Post Office and Credit Union in the UK. We are very grateful to
all of those who helped with our inquiry, both through giving
oral and written evidence, and in giving their time to meet informally
with us, particularly given the very tight timeframe within which
our inquiry was conducted.
6. Our Report is divided into three main sections:
First, we briefly outline the background and content of the Postal
Service Bill 2010-11 and outline the Comprehensive Spending
Review 2010 (CSR) settlement for the Post Office network. In the
second section, we examine the key provisions in the Bill and
their potential impact on postal services in Scotland. We focus
specifically on the provisions relating to the Universal Service
Obligation (USO) and the separation of the Royal Mail Group (RMG)
and the Post Office Limited (POL). In the third section we discuss
in more detail the Post Office network and the provision of postal
service in Scotland. We consider the steps required to ensure
the continued provision of a sustainable network which meets the
needs of consumers and small businesses alike.
1 Written evidence from Consumer Focus Scotland Back
2
www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2002/09/2323 Back
3
We unfortunately had to cancel our visit to Furnace Post Office
because of snow. Back
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