Posts
From House of Commons library documents, it appears that the government intends to close 25 post offices in the Neath constituency, and 15 in Aberavon.
We do not yet know how many of these will close immediately, nor which ones face the axe. We hope to update you as soon as we have the details.
What is clear is that New Labour will have outstripped the Tories in the number of post offices closed. For many villages and even towns this means the last meaningful contact with the fabric of national life has disappeared, or shortly will do so.
1 comment:
There were all sorts of documents etc. on the future of the post
offices at various points - including ones from the PM's office.
There was a plan to have information kiosks on government services in sub POs that was trialed, to the benefit of ICL (now Fujitsu Siemens) if I recall correctly, but not continued with.
The government - and this is true of Conservative, as well as Labour, government - has been too unimaginative in making use of this splendid network by adapting it for the needs of the 21st century.
The Post Office could have done a lot more on financial services a
lot earlier - although they have done a bit in the last few years in allowing some of their terminals to be used to access current bank accounts. (Why isn't this facility more widely advertised?). In France, the post office there is the number two provider for certain financial services.
If central government can't hack it, why don't local councils could support local POs by using them as information bureaux, to give info and advice on local council services etc? Neath Port Talbot CBC already operates its own one-stop-shops in towns like Pontardawe. Smaller towns and villages could be provided with some of those services via the local post offices.
Post a Comment