Lib Dems vow to fight new Islington post office closure plans

3.39.29pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 7th Jul 2004

Liberal Democrats on Islington Council have pledged to fight the latest wave of closures announced by the Post Office which could see three more local offices in the south of the borough forced to close their doors.

The Post Office announced their closure programme for Islington South & Finsbury last Thursday. The offices threatened with the chop are in Copenhagen Street, Amwell Street and St.Peter's Street. Branches at Westbourne Road and Old Street have already been closed in the south of the borough last year.

Islington's Liberal Democrat-run council has already responded to the Post Office's letter of notification with a report from councillors who looked in detail at the way the Post Office handled its closure programme in Islington North. The report was scathing of the Post Office's consultation procedures and suggested new ways business at local post offices could be increased in partnership with the Council.

Liberal Democrat councillors have now invited the Post Office to explain their proposals to the two area committees affected (south and west) and a special leaflet will now also go out alerting residents to the Post Office's plans and encouraging them to quiz post office chiefs. Islington Lib Dems will also be launching a constituency-wide petition calling on the Labour government and the Post Office to reverse their decision.

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Sustainability,

Councillor Bridget Fox, said:

"Local residents will rightly be furious at the Labour government and Post Office for trying to force through these closures on the quiet. Labour has sat on its hands while the Post Office has been forced to make savage cuts across the country because the government is demanding that post offices make a profit.

"The latest batch of post offices proposed for closure all serve Angel Town Centre which has no post office of its own. There are no branches any nearer than these three and a lot of people, especially pensioners, depend on them. There are already almost always queues and this will just make a bad situation worse.

"The Labour government has failed to support post office branches in stemming the loss of business and finding new ways of making money. For example, they are insisting people have their benefits paid to bank accounts rather than in cash.

"Post Offices have a key role in local communities. They provide information, help and access to pensions and benefits - they don't just sell stamps. That's why Liberal Democrats on the council and in the community have led the campaign to highlight what the Post Office and Labour government are up to and we will now be fighting these latest plans tooth and nail."

The Facts

The June report of the Council's Regeneration Review committee on post offices highlighted several key areas of concern:

there was no strategy or vision from the Labour government or Post Office management for a modern 21st century post office network.the remaining post offices (including Crown and main post offices) needed to be improved significantly to deal with the expected knock-on effect of increased customers from closed branches.consultation by the Post Office on any proposed closures for Islington South & Finsbury with the Council and local residents needed to be improved considerably after the way closures in Islington North were handled. At present the Post Office only has to notify the Council Chief Executive and put a notice in the window of the post office affected when it has been agreed to close it.Post Office bosses need to be aware of the impact their proposals have already had and will have on Islington's residents many of whom are among the poorest in Britain.the Post Office has in the past failed to give sufficient notice of their planned closures to councillors and residents as well as unrealistic response times to allow genuine community consultation.there is a need for the Post Office to identify with the Council possible opportunities for joint working to ensure new business for individual branches and give them more financial security.councillors were concerned at how individual post offices were chosen for closure often only on the grounds that the sub-postmaster/mistress had accepted a redundancy package from the Post Office.the London Mayor should allow post offices to accept congestion charge payments at post offices to increase business and income.the Labour government needs to clarify whether they see post offices as a profit-making business or as a way of tackling social exclusion in the community.government agencies do not make all their services available in all post offices to maximise income opportunities.The Post Office's consultation on the proposed post office closures in Islington South & Finsbury ends on 12th August.