Post Office (Hansard, 3 July 1997)

§ 3. Mrs. Ballard
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what guidance her Department has issued to the Post Office in respect of the protection of local services. [5205]

§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Mr. Ian McCartney)
The Government are committed to a nationwide letter and parcel service with daily delivery to every address in the country, to a uniform and affordable tariff structure under which it costs the same to post a letter anywhere in the United Kingdom, and to maintaining a nationwide network of 402 post offices. Detailed arrangements for the provision of postal services at local level are the operational responsibility of the Post Office.

§ Mrs. Ballard
People in my constituency, in Wellington in Somerset, have recently experienced a deterioration in the service at their local post office. They will be glad that the Minister is committed to a network of post offices, which I hope he agrees is vital to the survival of rural communities. This week, the chairman of the Post Office called for greater commercial freedom. In answering that request, will the Minister also ask the chairman to give greater commercial freedom to individual sub-post offices to allow them to negotiate with public utilities and others their own contracts to provide services to local people rather than having to be part of a block contract?

§ Mr. McCartney
I thank the hon. Lady for her comments about the post office in Wellington. On 10 July we arranged for Post Office representatives to meet town councillors, after which significant improvements to the arrangements in Wellington were agreed. The Post Office will have another meeting on 12 August, following which I have asked officials to keep the hon. Lady informed of progress. If, after that date, she is still not satisfied, she is more than welcome to contact me, and I will try to assist her to ensure that the Post Office meets the standards and requirements that our constituents deserve in their postal services.
With regard to the hon. Lady's second point, we shall ensure that the review takes account of the needs of users of Post Office services. The review's purpose is to ensure that, between now and the turn of the century and beyond, the United Kingdom will have the first-class service that its people deserve. I shall ensure that the hon. Lady's comments are included in the evidence that we are gathering as part of the review.

§ Mr. Mackinlay
Is not there a problem for all hon. Members in that the Post Office will always hide behind the fact that these are operational matters? Many hon. Members feel that there is a need to expand and increase the number of Post Office Counters outlets in their constituencies, but the franchises have already been given to particular people based on a geographical area. Many hon. Members want more outlets, but are impeded by the Post Office's claim that that is a matter for it rather than a matter of service delivery to the public.

§ Mr. McCartney
My hon. Friend should put the matter in perspective. With 19,000 outlets, the United Kingdom has the largest network of any postal service in the world. The Government suspended the Crown post office conversion as a matter of urgency; that was welcomed by both sides of the House. We did so to ensure that the conversion was considered in the context of the overall review, so that whatever decisions are taken at the end of the review will enhance the opportunities for the users of the services, rather than that the Post Office board should have its view and its view alone. The review is an open process and the points that my hon. Friend has made have been made to me by a range of people, including those in the postal service.

§ Mrs. May
The Minister has made a number of references to the review of the Post Office and its 403 services. I believe that it was originally intended that that review should be carried out immediately. When will that review be completed and its results made public? The Minister may be aware that this is a matter of particular interest to people in many constituencies, such as Maidenhead, who are concerned about the uncertainty that hangs over the future of their main post office.

§ Mr. McCartney
There is uncertainty in Maidenhead and elsewhere because the previous Government ran a campaign to undermine the Post Office for the purpose of privatisation, leaving us with a demoralised service. The review has commenced and, when appropriate, we will announce its decisions. The Government's recommendations, unlike those of the previous Government, will enhance the role of the Post Office as a publicly owned public service, not a privatised one.