The Hereford Times

Post offices must close - minister

8:18am Monday 12th May 2008

A government minister has maintained that post office closures were necessary because the network continued to lose half-a-million-pounds every day.

Business Minister Pat McFadden said the speed and scale of technological development in the UK were centrally connected to the changes facing the post office network.

Mr McFadden will tell the annual conference of the National Federation of Subpostmasters that all companies and service providers had to adapt to change in an age when people could pay bills, compare prices and bank online.

The Government has come under heavy criticism for sanctioning 2,500 post office closures and the federation warned over the weekend that another 3,000 branches could close if ministers did not renew a contract for post offices to handle state pensions and benefit payments.

The federation said one-in-four branches which will be left after the current closure programme is completed at the end of the year could shut if the Post Office loses the contract to run the new card account.

The current card account, used by around four million people every week to access pensions and benefits will be replaced next year.

Research for the federation showed that card account transactions accounted for around 12% of subpostmasters' pay.

General Secretary George Thomson said: "The Post Office card account is a crucial lifeline to thousands of subpostmasters already struggling to keep their businesses going. If the Government chooses not to award the contract to the Post Office up to 25% of those offices remaining open will be forced to close.

"Furthermore, the ongoing network change closure programme will fail if the 11,500 or so post offices which remain are not properly supported in the future."

Mr McFadden will tell the conference: "It's not just about computers or machines. It is about choice and power and control. It's about how you fit in all the different tasks in a busy life where people are often juggling family and work commitments."