Speech to NI Assembly
Madam Speaker
I am indebted to my colleagues for putting forward this motion.
I fully understand and accept their concerns about the dramatic impact the proposals of Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling will have on the network of Post Offices.
The proposals to close many of these much loved facilities raise a great deal of emotion. In making his announcement Alistair Darling said, that the loss making post office network cannot be left as it is and it needs to be “rescued” – anyone with any sense realised this rescue plan meant taking out of circulation about 2,500 offices across the UK. Northern Ireland will face the axing of many of its local post offices.
There can be no doubt the outworking of this “rescue” plan will have a very negative impact on the post office network throughout the province with potentially dozens of closures. The section of the community hardest hit by this plan will be our senior citizens. But not exclusively as I would like to consider a little later in my speech. Closing the Post Offices and making senior citizens travel increased distances for their pensions or other business places them in a situation of increased vulnerability from those who prey of this most vulnerable section of the community.
Post Offices are not just places to buy stamps they are in many cases part of the fabric of our society and a focal point in an urban district or village. The post offices serve a need far beyond the commercial and government financial support for the service should be a major priority. It is the action of government that has created the problems as they steadily withdrew post offices services TV licences, pension payments etc.
I would like to quote a post mistress who appeared on a local BBC news broadcast. When interviewed by the BBC she told it like it is. She accused the government of eating away at the income of post offices by stealth – the withdrawal of services for the post office. Further she said,
“We’d like the government to undertake an assessment of the social role played by post offices in the communities’ right across the UK and for them to provide ongoing support to the non commercial parts of the network. We’d like a network that is viable, a network that isn’t subsidised totally. We want the work and we want to do it well and we want to serve our customers. We are a part of the community. She continued, in many places when the post office closes, the community loses heart, and the people don’t come to the towns and villages… and the communities just die.”
There are 14, 300 post offices in the UK. Four hundred and eighty are Crown Offices and 13, 280 are private businesses.
Research carried out by the New Economics Foundation ( AN INDEPENDENT THINK TANK) quantifies for the first time the contribution that urban post offices make in some of the most deprived areas of the UK. The report says that they play a particularly valuable role in deprived urban areas, and outlines the new threats that they now face from changes to the post office network.
In fact, post offices in urban areas have borne the brunt of recent closures:
- Over the past two years, more than eight urban post offices have closed for every rural post office closure.
- More than one in six of the urban post office closures took place in deprived areas
And, further in-depth analysis of the impact of Post Office closures in Manchester on small businesses reveals:
1.Sixty percent of local businesses witnessed significant impacts, either to their business, to their clients and/or customers, or to the area in general following the closure of the local post office.
2.Local businesses also reported difficulties in making cash deposits and other banking issues: extra costs in staff time to visit post offices further away: and longer queues at alternative post offices result from customer displacement.
3.Local trade associations noted the knock-on impact of reduced footfall on shops located in the vicinity of the closed post office with the businesses themselves reporting significant loss of custom.
The danger is that when amenities like the post office disappear from a community, the financially mobile are more likely to leave, leaving higher concentrations of deprivation, which in turn can lead to further loss of amenities
The New Economics Foundation analysis of the social value of urban post offices reveals:
- Seventy–six percent of people surveyed in Manchester said they would be affected by the closure of their local post office
- Groups affected by post office closures also included schools, the local university, credit unions and community groups.
- Fifty-three per cent of local people surveyed in the vicinity of just one of the closed post offices in Manchester buy groceries elsewhere as a direct result of the closure of the post office – with significant implications for local traders.
Qualitative evidence from NEF’s survey emphasises the vital and overlooked social services played by Post Offices. This evidence supports previous research which found that half of the sub postmasters in disadvantaged areas keep an eye out for between 20 and 50 vulnerable customers.
It is clear that the situation is not one of just stopping a haemorrhaging network of offices. There is more to this problem than the government is currently prepared to consider. Any decision regarding the post office network must take a holistic approach and there should be a thorough review of the social and economic impact of post offices so that a balanced decision can be made. The government must take significant steps to safeguard the vital role that post offices play at the heart of communities.
