Saving Our Post Offices - Lib Dem Candidate Sees First Class Service First Hand

2.35.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 9th May 2008

Sally Morgan in Widecombe Post Office

In order to experience the issues facing sub-postmasters and mistresses in small rural communities Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Central Devon, Cllr Sally Morgan, recently spent a morning behind the counter of a Devon rural post office.

Cllr Morgan joined the sub-postmaster at Widecombe-in-the-Moor where the Post Office is also the village shop and a lifeline for many people in the community.

Cllr Morgan said "The Government is in the middle of closing 2500 Post Offices across the country, in addition to the 3500 that were closed by the

Conservatives when they were in power. We in Devon will learn the fate of our Post Offices in May. With this in mind I wanted to see for myself the issues that face our rural Post Offices from the other side of the counter and the difficulties that our rural sub-postmasters and mistresses face on a daily basis.

Many Post Offices, like the one in Widecombe, are also the village shop and one side of the business sustains the other - take one part away and the other will struggle and fail. People will lose their livelihood and the community will be left with nothing. They are the hub of a community and their value, particularly in rural villages, cannot be measured in financial terms. I'm also hoping to learn something about the realities of running a business and trying to earn a living in a Post Office in rural Devon."

Cllr Morgan says that Post Offices under threat are being offered several options:

"One of those is to be a 'host' for a mobile PO for so many hours per week. Another is to be a 'Partner' - this involves carrying on with the same service they do now but without tier payments and for as little as £10 per week thus running the post office service for virtually nothing. They would gain from extra customer footfall for their other business i.e.: village shop, but the money they raise from Post Office services would go directly to the 'Core' post office. The Core post offices will act as a 'hub', running host and partner services for a large geographical area.

Post Offices wishing to take advantage of the compensation scheme must not offer 'core' post office services for at least 12 months after they cease to trade as a P.O. These services include Premium mail products, bill payment services, bureau de change services or Lottery. So, for example, a post master may not wish to close but instead sign up to 'Pay-Pal' or work with a private delivery service. If they do this within 12 months their compensation package will be reduced.

So it's a case of either work for free or don't try to compete with us if we close you - hardly fair!"