Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martyn Day and Marion Fellows

Thursday 17th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

2. What recent steps the Government have taken to close the gender pay gap.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

8. What recent steps the Government have taken to close the gender pay gap.

[The Minister for Women (Victoria Atkins)]

This is the third year of gender pay gap reporting. We are focusing on the three sectors that employ the most women, and also on those with large gender pay gaps, such as financial services. Work is already under way on, for instance, the independent review of the gender pay gap in medicine, the recommendations of which will be published shortly. I am delighted that experts on the Women’s Business Council are helping us with our work in the retail and financial sectors in particular.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martyn Day and Marion Fellows

Thursday 4th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

11. What recent steps he has taken to prevent the UK from leaving the EU without a deal.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

17. What recent steps he has taken to prevent the UK from leaving the EU without a deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martyn Day and Marion Fellows

Thursday 28th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

12. What recent discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on the UK leaving the EU.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

18. What recent discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on the UK leaving the EU.

Crown Post Offices: Franchising

Debate between Martyn Day and Marion Fellows

Thursday 10th January 2019 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows]

The question of post offices temporarily closing is really down to the fact that Post Office Ltd cannot contract new sub-postmasters to run them. That is not to the benefit of my constituents in Wishaw, who lost their post office for almost four weeks last summer.

[Martyn Day]

I thank my hon. Friend for making an excellent point. I hope that the Minister is listening.

The Scottish National party supports a strong network of post office branches, which are the backbone of local communities and businesses. Many post offices are offering a greater range of services, including paying in money, after many local bank branches have closed. Some 537,000 businesses are registered in rural areas, accounting for one in four of all companies. They are very creative—almost half are considered to be innovators—and they contribute, as I pointed out, more than £200 billion to our economy. Small rural businesses are more likely to use post offices for deliveries and paying bills, and twice as likely to use them for withdrawing or depositing cash. Citizens Advice found that eight in 10 small businesses in remote rural areas would lose money if local post offices were closed. That should be a salutary economic warning to us.

The UK Government’s disastrous privatisation of Royal Mail and recent mishandling of post office management show that they cannot be trusted with our public services. The current contracts make it harder for sub-postmasters to afford to keep going, as my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) pointed out. At the same time, Post Office Ltd recorded net profits of £35 million in 2017-18, up from £13 million in 2016-17. As hon. Members have pointed out, its chief executive Paula Vennells got a 7% pay rise last year, while postmasters took an average pay cut of 4.5% and 11,500 Post Office workers received a combined £17 million pay cut. I ask the Minister to take urgent action to review the contract for sub-postmasters that was introduced in 2012.

My final point is about the effect on footfall on the high street. Closing a post office and moving its services to a franchisee will not increase the franchisee’s footfall, since many of the customers were already using the high street; it simply reduces the footfall travelling across the high street and has a detrimental impact on other businesses. What we actually need is to ensure throughput on the high street. If a post office closes and is moved out of a town centre location, that can be even more detrimental to the local community.

There are many concerns about the proposal and its effect on customers, staff and local communities. At the end of the day, we must remember that the Post Office is wholly owned by the Government. I implore the Minister to step in and halt the process.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Martyn Day and Marion Fellows

Tuesday 13th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the effect on the justice system of the UK leaving the EU.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of the effect on the justice system of the UK leaving the EU.