Fears over Government plans for the Post Office network have seen 1,266 Torbay residents sign a national petition opposing Post Office closures.
The “Save Your Post Office” petition was signed by 165,000 people nationally, with Torbay being the second highest area in the country for signatures. The petition was started earlier this year after the Government launched a consultation on the future of the Post Office.
The Government consultation invited comments on whether the requirement for the Post Office to have a minimum of 11,500 branches should be reduced or even removed. This despite the Government admitting some Post Offices would inevitably close if changes were made to it. Whilst local Sub-Post Offices are mostly small businesses providing Post Office services, the national network remains in public ownership.
The 11,500 minimum branch requirement was set in 2010 by the then Conservative-Led Government for the Post Office. It was introduced to protect the network following two major branch closure programmes enacted by the Labour Party between 2002 and 2009 which saw approximately 5,000 Post Offices close, including the historic Post Office in Ellacombe where Kevin Foster launched the “Save Your Post Office” Campaign in our bay.
There are now fears the Post Office network could see a repeat of the cuts which took place under the last Labour government, putting at risk post offices across the UK. Nearly half of Britain’s post offices do not currently make a profit after being hit by a more than doubling of business rates and the National Insurance Jobs Tax under Labour.
The consultation on potential cuts to the network followed the Government deciding to franchise the 108 remaining directly operated Post Offices, including Paignton Post Office, earlier this year.
Commenting, Kevin Foster said:
“Local Post Offices are not just a handy place to buy a stamp, but a hub for the whole community offering a range of services. Yet this latest consultation could open the door to another major round of branch closures as was seen under the previous Labour Government.”
“Successful campaigns helped save Torre and Paignton Post Office, the Government should now listen to the many people across our bay who are sending a strong message about their opposition to another round of Post Office closures.”
The three highest areas nationally for signatures on the “Save your Post Office” petition were: Stockton West (1,443), Torbay (1,266) and Tonbridge (1,184).
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