Head Post Offices (Rationalisation) (Hansard, 19 December 1967)

§ Mr. Edward Short:

For some time now I have been reviewing the smaller Head Post Offices as opportunity occurred to consider whether they were sensible administrative units in modern conditions. It is clear that administration can be more efficiently and economically carried out from fewer centres. Future changes in the handling of mail due to mechanisation and concentration of postal work also fit in with this pattern.

I have therefore decided to concentrate the administration on a smaller number of centres responsible for larger areas. Some 400 offices will be affected by this reorganisation. A list follows of all the present Head Offices. Those which will become, in due course, the new area administrative centres are marked with an asterisk. As part of this reorganisation the title of Head Postmaster will progressively disappear. Each of the towns in the list will have its own Postmaster; but some 180 Postmasters will also have administrative responsibility for an Area. The new pattern will come into being over the next few years. The list cannot be 393W definitive at this stage, and changes may have to be made in it if circumstances alter.

This streamlining of administration, which w ill lead to very worthwhile savings, will not affect services to the public in any way.

The Staff Assocations have been kept fully informed, and I have recently con-cluded a comprehensive agreement with them about the treatment of individuals affected by these changes. I shall continue to do all I can to minimise inconvenience to the staff concerned.

Aberdare	^*Bradford.
^*Aberdeen	Braintree.
Abergavenny	Brentwood.
^*Aberystwyth.	^*Bridgend.
Abingdon.	Bridgnorth
^*Aldershot	Bridgwater.
Alloa.	Bridlington.
Alnwick	Bridport.
Alton	^*Brighton.
^*Altrincham	^*Bristol
Andover.	^*Bromley and Beckenham
Arbroath
Ardrossan	Burnley.
Armagh	Burton on Trent.
^*Ashford	Bury.
Ashton and Stalybridge	^*Bury St. Edmunds.
	Buxton
^*Aylesbury	Caernarvon.
^*Ayr	Camberley.
^*Ballymena	Camborne and Redruth
Banbury
Banff	^*Cambridge
^*Bangor	^*Campbeltown.
^*Barmouth	^*Canterbury
Barnet	^*Cardiff.
^*Barnsley	^*Carlisle
^*Barnstaple	^*Carmarthen.
Barrow in Furness	Castle Douglas.
Barry.	^*Chelmsford.
^*Basildon.	Cheltenham.
^*Basingstoke	Chesham and Amersham
^*Bath
^*Bathgate.	^*Chester
Beccles	^*Chesterfield
^*Bedford	^*Chichester
^*Belfast	Chippenham.
^*Berwick on Tweed.	Chorley.
Beverley.	Cirencester.
Bexhill-on-Sea	Clacton-on-Sea.
Bideford.	^*Coatbridge and Airdrie
Biggar
^*Birmingham	^*Colchester.
Bishop Auckland	^*Coleraine
Bishop's Stortford.	Cookstown.
^*Blackburn and Accrington.	^*Coventry.
	Cowes.
^*Blackpool.	^*Crawley.
Blandford Forum	^*Crewe.
^*Bletchley	Crieff.
Bodmin	Cromer.
Bognor Regis	^*Croydon.
^*Bolton.	Cupar.
^*Boston.	^*Darlington
^*Bournemouth and Poole	^*Dartford.
	Deal.

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Denbigh.	Helston
^*Derby.	^*Hemel Hempstead.
Dereham.	^*Hereford.
Dewsbury and Batley	Hertford
	Hexham
Dingwall.	^*High Wycombe.
Diss.	Hinckley.
^*Doncaster	^*Hitchin and Letchworth.
^*Dorchester
Douglas	Horsham.
^*Dover.	^*Hounslow
Driffield.	^*Huddersfield.
^*Dudley	^*Hull
^*Dumbarton	Huntingdon.
^*Dumfries.	^*Huntly.
^*Dundee	^*Ilford and Barking.
^*Dunfermline.	Ilfracombe.
Dungannon	^*Inverness.
Dunoon.	^*Ipswich.
Duns	^*Jersey.
^*Durham	Keighley.
^*Eastbourne.	Kelso
East Grinstead.	Kendall.
Edgware	Kettering.
^*Edinburgh	Kidderminster.
^*Elgin.	^*Kilmarnock.
^*Enfield.	Kingsbridge.
^*Enniskillen.	^*Kings Lynn.
Epsom.	^*Kingston on Thames.
Evesham.	Kirkcaldy.
^*Exeter.	^*Kirk wall.
Exmouth	^*Kyle.
Fakenham.	Lanark.
^*Falkirk	Lancaster and Morecambe.
Falmouth.
Fareham.	Leatherhead.
Farnham.	^*Leeds.
Folkestone.	^*Leicester.
Forfar.	Leigh, Lanes.
Fort William.	Leominster.
Fraserburgh	^*Lerwick.
Frome	Leven.
Gainsborough	Lewes.
^*Galashiels	^*Lichfield.
Girvan	^*Lincoln.
^*Glasgow	Lisburn.
^*Gloucester	Liskeard.
Godalming	Littlehampton.
Goole.	^*Liverpool.
^*Grantham.	^*Llandrindod Wells.
Grantown on Spey	^*Llandudno and Colwyn Bay.
Gravesend.
Grays	^*Llanelly.
^*Great Yarmouth.	Lochgilphead.
^*Greenock and Port Glasgow	Lockerbie
	^*Londonderry
^*Grimsby.	Loughborough.
^*Guernsey	Louth.
^*Guildford.	Lowestoft.
Haddington.	Ludlow.
^*Halifax.	Lurgan.
Halstead.	^*Luton.
Hamilton.	Lydney.
^*Harlow	Lymington.
^*Harrogate.	Macclesfield.
^*Harrow and Wembley	Maidenhead.
	^*Maidstone.
Hartlepools, The	^*Manchester.
Harwich	Mansfield.
Haslemere.	^*Margate.
^*Hastings	Market Drayton.
^*Haverfordwest	Market Harborough.
^*Hawick	Marlborough.
Haywards Heath	Matlock.
Helensburgh.	Melton Mowbray.

395W

Merthyr Tydfil	Ryde.
^*Middlesbrough and Stockton on Tees	Saffron Walden.
	^*St. Albans.
Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock	St. Andrews.
	St. Austell
Minehead.	^*Salisbury.
Montrose.	Saxmundham.
^*Morpeth.	Scarborough.
^*Motherwell and Wishaw	^*Scunthorpe.
	Selby.
Neath.	Sevenoaks.
Newark	Shaftesbury.
Newbury.	Sheerness.
^*Newcastle on Tyne	^*Sheffield.
Newmarket	^*Shrewsbury.
^*Newport, I.O.W.	Sittingbourne
^*Newport, Mon	Skegness.
Newquay	^*Slough.
^*Newry.	^*Southall.
Newton Abbot	^*Southampton.
Newton Stewart	^*Southend on Sea.
Newtown.	Southport
Northallerton	Spalding.
^*Northampton	Stafford.
North and South Shields	Staines.
	^*Stirling.
North Berwick.	^*Stockport.
^*Norwich	^*Stoke on Trent.
^*Nottingham.	^*Stornoway.
Nuneaton	Stourbridge.
^*Oban.	Stowmarket.
Okehampton.	Stranraer.
^*Oldham	Stratford-on-Avon.
^*Omagh.	Stroud, Glos.
Oswestry.	^*Sunderland.
^*Oxford	^*Sutton.
^*Paisley.	^*Swansea.
Peebles.	^*Swindon.
Penrith	Tamworth.
Penzance	^*Taunton.
^*Perth	Tavistock.
^*Peterborough	Thetford.
Peterhead.	Thurso.
Petersfield	Tiverton.
Pitlochry	^*Tonbridge.
^*Plymouth	^*Torquay.
Pontefract and Castleford	Totnes.
	^*Trowbridge.
^*Pontypridd and Porth.	^*Truro.
	^*Tunbridge Wells.
^*Portadown.	Ulverston.
Portmadoc	Uxbridge.
^*Portsmouth and Gosport	^*Wakefield.
	^*Walsall
Port Talbot	Waltham Cross.
^*Preston.	Walton on Thames and Weybridge
Pwllheli
Ramsgate.	Warminster.
^*Reading.	^*Warrington.
Redditch.	^*Warwick and Leamington
^*Reigate and Redhill
^*Rhyl.	^*Watford.
Richmond and Twickenham	^*Wellington.
	Welshpool.
Richmond, Yorks.	West Bromwich.
Ripon	Weston-super-Mare.
Rochdale	Weymouth.
^*Rochester and Chatham	Whitby.
	Whitehaven.
^*Romford and Dagenham.	^*Wick.
	Wigan.
^*Rotherham.	Wimborne.
Rothesay.	Winchester.
^*Rugby.	^*Windsor.

396W

Wisbech.	Workington.
^*Woking	Worksop.
Wokingham.	^*Worthing.
^*Wolverhampton	^*Wrexham.
Woodbridge.	Yeovil.
Woodford Green.	^*York.
^*Worcester