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G Group: Communication Workers Union
© @CWUnews
H Direct line: 7
Date: 15 June 2015
The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG
Minister of State
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H OET
Dear Lady Neville-Rolfe,
I write as the recently elected General Secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union,
representing 200,000 members in post, telecoms and financial services to seek an urgent
meeting with you regarding the future of Post Office Ltd and the Post Office Network, which I
understand you have ministerial responsibility for.
Some 6,000 of our members, which include postmasters, are involved in working for or
sustaining the Post Office Network under the auspices of the Post Office Ltd (POL).
We welcomed the Coalition government's desire in Securing the Post Office Network in the
Digital Age (November 2010) for the Post Office to become a 'genuine Front Office for
Government at both the national and local level” and to grow its revenues from financial
services, Over the past five years, however, its income in both of these areas has fallen or
stagnated.
As you will be aware, there is a government commitment to fund POL through to 2018 and
an on-going programme of rationalisation of Post Office locations known as Network
Transformation. We note that the Conservative Manifesto for the 2015 General Election was
silent on this matter.
We are most concerned that a viable Post Office Network, a traditional and important feature
of the British social and commercial landscape for nearly 200 years, is in danger of being
eroded beyond viability. We do not believe that this is a conscious or intentional policy
objective of government, but an unintended and possibly overlooked consequence of the
current arrangements.
We have particular concerns for the 3,000 locations where the Post Office is effectively the
“last shop in the village” (known as the Community sector) and the subsequent impact on
rural communities, and for the circa 3000 mainstream branches that have yet to be
converted to a new model either due to refusing to embrace the new model or through not
being able to convert due to lack of interest by other retailers. The future for these
postmasters and their branches is uncertain.
General Secretary: Dave Ward
@ Facebook: Dave Ward CWU © @DaveWardGS
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We do think that there is an opportunity for a fresh approach which can meet the needs of a
wide range of stakeholders, including HM Government, the small business community, the
current and future customers of Post Offices, and our members who work in the network,
from postmasters to Counter Clerks.
As you would expect, we are in close and usually constructive dialogue with the senior
management in Post Office Ltd, and Royal Mail as their largest corporate customers. As the
Minister responsible in the sponsoring department, we would very much welcome the
opportunity to share our concerns and our thoughts on how a more optimistic outlook can be
secured.
We would also wish to discuss with you the possibilities for a moratorium on the current
Network Transformation programme. We believe the conversion of Post Offices under this
programme is now at the stage where voluntary activity is close to being exhausted. We do
not believe that anyone ever intended for Post Office conversions and Network
Transformation to take place on a compulsory basis and that therefore a pause in activity so
that the impact of the programme can be assessed and a fresh assessment of risks and
opportunities made is appropriate.
In closing, we do believe that a new political settlement is possible which offers a more
robust, productive and efficient Post Office Network going forward. We are ready, able and
keen to play our part in that and therefore hope it would be possible to meet with you and
your officials in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Ward
General Secretary