19.10.06
Post Offices
I have to confess I have no great emotional attachment to Post Offices perhaps it's because I do not live in a so-called rural community and thus do not benefit from the various social services that are provided from Post Offices. But looking at the harsh economic reality of it, the Government is 100% correct to reform the network. Any Government has to make sure that it is getting value for taxpayers money i.e in terms of the £150m-a-year subsidy for the rural network. Is it sustainable for 800 of the smallest post offices to be used by an average of 16 people a week? The Government has pumped nearly £2billion of taxpayers money into the entire Post Office network that shows it's committment in my view, in return should the Government not ask for some form of change/reform? The blunt truth is that more and more people use bank accounts and have no need for the Post Office, also it's cheaper for the Government to pay benefits into bank accounts rather than than the through the Postal Network. Anybody who herd the Trade and Industry Secretary on the Today program in my view car'nt but be persuaded by the Govt. argument which is sound. This country is starting to become more and more anti-reform and risk averse, I wonder what Thatcher would say? I find it amazing that traditional bastions of the establishment such as the Telegraph and the Tory Party are happy to maintain the status quo which reguard to this issue. Perhaps David Cameron is playing this for electoral reasons like the NHS, but these things always come back to bite as Labour have found. I imagine some Tories feel that once in power that Cameron will be a proper radical like Thatcher, but many Labour people thought Blair would be a proper 'leftie' once in power and it turned out to be untrue. So perhaps when Cameron reads out the 'longest shopping list in history' which seems to includes increasing support for the postal network he really does believe it. I almost feel sorry for the Conservatives.
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4 comments:
May I first take this opportunity to welcome you to the world of 'Blogging'. This is only your first post, but already you are showing the ineptitude typical of a Labour Party member. Rural post Offices are a lifeline to rural communities. The Government is threatening not to renew the payment contract to Post Offices in 2008, which will lead to the closure of thousands of Post Offices. You may argue that this is irrelevant, but considering public transport is in short supply in the countryside, how are the elderly meant to go about their daily chores such as collecting their pension? (Although thanks to this government, it’s a wonder why they bother collecting their pension in the first place!) The government says people are using the Post Office less and less, but this is due to the government and its failure to support the Post Office in renewing its right to sell TV Licences, single payment schemes ect. I know that Labour holds the rural community and the elderly with a high disregard, but you are destroying lives and communities. Perhaps if you got out of the city once in a while, you could see it with your own eyes. The only difference with the Conservatives is that we are standing up and fighting for a service that is vital to many members of society. I know this notion may be alien to a labour man, but it is a fight worth having, and you are going to lose. Long Live Cameron, Long live Britain and Long live the Conservative Party. It’s a beautiful day to be blue!
I must first of all apologise for taking so long to respond to your comments.
Key points:
-BBC offers licence fee payers the chance to pay by direct debit, this is cheaper than via post office (would have thought you supported this?)
-DVLA allows drivers to buy tax discs online or over the phone means fewer people use post office
-Government chooses to pay benefits directly into bank accounts whenever possible at a cost of 1p per transaction compared to the Post Office charge of £1 (I thought you wanted the Govt to save money?)
-14,500 branches of the Post Office in the UK collectively they lost £2million a week last year, it will be £4million a week this year. (If we were running it on proper commercial terms 10,000 branches should be shut down)
-The Govt subsidises 7,854 rural branches to the tune of an average of £19,000 a year each.
-The rural sub-post office network makes a loss of £150m
-800 of those rural branches attract an average of 16 customers a week costing the taxpayer £17 a vist, thats a very expensive stamp! (I'd love for Mrs Thatcher to defend that?)
-The cost to the taxpayer for a rural postoffice is £1,188 a year, or look at it another way a post office getting a £19,000 a year subsidy but open only 20 hours a week - and many are open less - is getting a a subsidy of £18 an hour
-Some branches are reveiving upto 100% business rate relief
-The Post Office must be the only 'business' left in the country where the fewer customers you attract, the more money you get from the taxpayer.
-I sound more Thatcherite than you which seems weird, but if the state is going to subsidise the Post Office for 'social good' why should it not subsidise Spar or church services or a bowls club or a coffee morning? What is the unique societal virtue in a TV licence pad a card account withdrawal?
2,500 post offices face closure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6176929.stm
Does this investment package meet your approval?
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