Local Post Offices Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business and Trade
Richard Holden
Main Page: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)Department Debates - View all Richard Holden's debates with the Department for Business and Trade
(1 day, 11 hours ago)
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Gideon Amos
I agree with my hon. Friend. I will comment on that aspect of banking later.
I pay tribute to the friendly and hard-working staff in my local post offices on Station Road and in Staplegrove, and in other post offices throughout the constituency. The North Curry post office, with its amazing postmistress, contributes every year to the “Christmas in the Square” event for the village charity and has raised £1,500. These are real community institutions. Their being in our villages and communities, where they offer a warm, friendly welcome and act as a community hub, is important to many people and must not be undervalued.
Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
The hon. Member makes an excellent point, and I think the nub of his speech is that post offices are not just a banking facility or just a post office; they are a real community hub. I think about the ones in my constituency that I have visited recently—in Ramsden Bellhouse, on Whitmore Way in Basildon or the brand new one on Billericay high street. That is exactly what they are: places where the entire community comes together.
Gideon Amos
The right hon. Member is quite right. I know Billericay and its post office, and I certainly support his remarks. Post offices are simply too important to be lost, and we have to ensure that they are not lost in towns like Wellington and Taunton, and elsewhere across the country.
Too often, there are deep concerns about the future of local post offices. Today’s announcement about changes to the Royal Mail universal service obligation adds to that uncertainty, creating further pressure on an already fragile network. It is disappointing to see that obligation weakened, with potential knock-on effects on the viability of post offices. That makes it even more important that post offices continue to play a role all throughout the week, in selling stamps and providing postal services, even if deliveries are being cut back.