AM calls on Assembly Government to halt post office closure programme

5.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 9th Apr 2008

In a Welsh Assembly debate today, Kirsty Williams spoke up for the 6 Post Offices facing Closure in Brecon and Radnorshire and the further 8 to be replaced by 'outreach' services.

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon & Radnorshire said:

"Some of the most remote and deprived areas within Brecon and Radnorshire are seeing their post offices under threat of closure.

"In its Post Office Consultation document the closure of Boughrood post office, and its replacement by a mobile service, has been justified with reference to alternative post offices nearby, what it does not mention is that there is no public transport to get people to these alternatives.

"In Gladestry ,Boughrood and Llanbister the post office is in the village shop and it is the post office element that helps keep that shop viable. Those communities will not only loose their post office they will loose their shop as well.

"For many elderly people, single parents or those without access to transport they don't just loose their shop, they don't just loose their post office they loose their independence as it will be impossible for them to reach the alternative locations without help"

"It is the very action of the Labour Government that is making them unviable, with the decision to move away from the old system of books and from services such as TV license renewal.

"I want to see the Government investing in the post office network, I want to see it giving the contract for the second generation card account to the post office and to see local government investing in post offices so that people can access services there.

"The Government must act to bolster rather than to undermine the post office network as has been the case for successive years.

Notes:

In 2006/07 the Post Office network lost more than £200 million and had four million fewer customer visits than two years previously. At the same time, Post Office revenue from Government transactions, such as TV License sales, decreased by £168 million in 2005/06. 2,500 Post Offices are due to close across the UK. Several hundred are situated in Wales. This is in addition to the 150 Welsh Post Offices closed in 2004. So far 4000 Post Offices have been closed since Labour came to power in 1997, on top of the 3,500 closed by the last Conservative Government