Postal Services (Rural Areas)

John McDonnell Excerpts

Monday 2nd September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Katy Clark]

There is not a short answer to that question, but I will try to explore it. My point is that the legal protections are inadequate, as there is a great deal of uncertainty about where we will go. The 10-year agreement that has been entered into is not good enough and does not last long enough. I expect that we will explore those issues as we continue the debate.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

Is it not true that the industry lost confidence in the Government because of the failure to deliver the additional work promised to the post offices?

[Katy Clark]

That is indeed the case and that is very much what the people running post offices are saying.

I appreciate the difficulties—the Labour Government grappled with them, too—but I must say to the Government that unless we deliver on providing new services to the post offices, change of this nature is unlikely to be successful. All political parties and all levels of government —not just Westminster, but the Scottish Government and local government—must do a lot more in this area. We need to consider ways in which we can ensure that more services are provided in post offices to ensure a long-term future for them.