Date: 3 September 2007

Save Our Post Offices

We know that the number of Post Offices in Staffordshire Moorlands has been reducing in recent years and unless we fight to keep these essential resources, we could lose even more.  Last week, the Post Office announced the details of local consultations that will take place on Post Office closures and I think it is vital that we have our say.

Our local Post Offices are the lifeblood of the community in many of our rural areas.  But their future is now under real threat. In Staffordshire Moorlands, we have already seen twelve Post Offices close since 1997 and we are now faced with possible the closure of more.

The Government confirmed in May this year that 2,500 branches will close by 2008, to try to plug a deficit in Post Office finances running at £4 million per week

It is absolutely essential that we make our voices heard in the consultation.  Postwatch, the independent watchdog for postal services also advises every Post Office customer to make their feelings known.

There will be 50 local consultations.  Staffordshire Moorlands is included in the “Shropshire and Staffordshire” consultation, which is due to take place in March 2008, but Moorlands residents who use Post Office facilities in the Ashbourne area should be aware that the “East Midlands” consultation will be in September 2007 – in other words now.  Each local consultation will last for six weeks and we have been assured that no final decisions on closures will be made without public consultation.

Although there no quotas for individual areas, we do know that there will be on average 50 closures in each consultation area, so it is very important that we make our case for saving our remaining Post Offices.

Those of us living in the Moorlands know that these cuts will hit the vulnerable and the elderly the hardest. We need to make the Post Office understand in their consultation that if the local Post Office closes, often the last shop in the vicinity closes as well – and a van for a couple of hours a week is no replacement for a Post Office open full time.  If there were to be 50 closures across the “Shropshire and Staffordshire” area, we could expect four more closures in the Moorlands, which would leave us with just 19 Post Offices.

You can find out more information about how to respond to the consultation by calling Post Office Ltd on 08457 223344 or visiting www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.  Although individual responses are welcomed, I believe that our voice will be louder and more powerful if we make a collective response to the consultation and I would be delighted to put that response together. Please contact me at 30 Russell Street, Leek, or on staffsmoorlands@tory.org if you would like to send me your comments so that I can include them in my overall response.