14 July 2008
Following the recent closure of 12 Post Office branches across the Cotswolds, local MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown visited the Post Office in Wotton-under-Edge to demonstrate his support for the continued operation of the branch and to be handed copies of a postcard campaign in support of the Post Office Card Account (POCA2).
The Governments current contract on the POCA2, which enables 4 million people a week to collect their benefits and pensions at their local post office, runs out in 2010. Whilst the government has decided it would continue with a new account after 2010, the contract for the new account may not necessarily go to the Post Office, creating further uncertainty for many sub-postmasters and for the future of Post Offices as a whole.
Mr Clifton-Brown, who has been inundated with correspondence on this matter, shares the concerns of many local residents that if the POCA2 account were not to go to the Post Office it could spell doom for many branches, such as that in Wotton-under-Edge, that had escaped the recent round of Government led closures.
The MP added “Whilst I am delighted that Wotton-under-Edge’s Post Office escaped closure this time, there is no room for complacency. The Government seem to be doing everything in their power to limit the range of services the Post Office can offer and to simply just manage its decline, this is in total contrast to the Conservative policy of trying to find new ways to bring more business to the Post Office to secure its long term future.”
“I am urging all residents in Wotton-under-Edge, and across the constituency as a whole to keep using their local Post Office branch. Furthermore, those who depend on the Post Office Card Account should keep fighting, as I and all members of the Conservative party will be, for the loss of this could be a fatal blow to many branches futures.”
The Governments current contract on the POCA2, which enables 4 million people a week to collect their benefits and pensions at their local post office, runs out in 2010. Whilst the government has decided it would continue with a new account after 2010, the contract for the new account may not necessarily go to the Post Office, creating further uncertainty for many sub-postmasters and for the future of Post Offices as a whole.
Mr Clifton-Brown, who has been inundated with correspondence on this matter, shares the concerns of many local residents that if the POCA2 account were not to go to the Post Office it could spell doom for many branches, such as that in Wotton-under-Edge, that had escaped the recent round of Government led closures.
The MP added “Whilst I am delighted that Wotton-under-Edge’s Post Office escaped closure this time, there is no room for complacency. The Government seem to be doing everything in their power to limit the range of services the Post Office can offer and to simply just manage its decline, this is in total contrast to the Conservative policy of trying to find new ways to bring more business to the Post Office to secure its long term future.”
“I am urging all residents in Wotton-under-Edge, and across the constituency as a whole to keep using their local Post Office branch. Furthermore, those who depend on the Post Office Card Account should keep fighting, as I and all members of the Conservative party will be, for the loss of this could be a fatal blow to many branches futures.”
