Closure of Post Offices

It is frustrating to learn that there are many Post Offices earmarked for closure in my region, especially given that this is largely due to the fact that the London Government has been gradually removing key services from the Post Office Ltd. It is also therefore ironic when you read about Labour AMs and MPs in the local press ( South Wales Evening Post being case in point) whereby members such as Gwenda Thomas AM have declared their willingness to fight their own Government's ruling at Westminster to close Post Offices. It seems somewhat reactionary now for Labour AMs to be taking such a stance, when they could have been raising their concerns vociferously and robustly with Gordon Brown et al before the Post Office reached a crisis point.

This situation will again be intensified by the fact that the Post Office will have to compete in a tendering process alongside other companies to retain the Post Office Card Account. It seems that they will struggle quite substantially to even retain the service that they currently have if they lose the tender for the POCA. I met with representatives from Post Office Ltd yesterday at my office to discuss this very issue, aswell as the local consultation process. I acknowledge the work that they are seeking to do in trying to ensure that the current Post Office network is viable, but I sincerely believe that there should be wider dialogue as to how to make Post Offices run effectively for the future, and how to introduce new, creative ideas for implementation. Introducing a People's Bank for Wales is one of Plaid Cymru's ideas, of course.

I am also concerned about the consultation process itself. There are no guidelines provided by the Post Office as to how to submit a consultation response, and they are advising against residents proposing local petitions as part of the consultation process as this does not assist the outcome. The consultation is also only consulting on what Post Office should close or become an outreach area, which does not leave a wide range of options in my opinion for local people to present as valid concerns.

The issue of Post Office closures is of course an issue about retaining and developing communities, but it is also a key element of the poverty agenda. If Post Offices are closed in many of the areas outlined in the South Wales West plan this will only serve to intensify poverty in these areas. With the centralising of key services such as the Job Centre, the administration and provision of benefits entitlements are a key concern. Removing people's ability to access Post Offices will again add to the level of disengagement of vulnerable groups from services which they see as a necessity.

I intend to raise my concerns with the Westminster Government as part of this consultation exercise, and I am sure that those constituents in South Wales West will make their views known to me on this issue also.