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Dear Editor,
I share the concerns of many other local people living around Princes Avenue and Beverley Road about the proposals by Post Office Ltd to close two Hull North branches.
Post Office Ltd must justify why they selected these two of the current twelve Hull North branches. To this end, I organised a public meeting on 2 November with Post Office Ltd representatives.
Unfortunately, no Lib Dem Councillor from the affected wards came along to question Post Office Ltd. This is peculiar, given that Lib Dems had organised another public meeting on the subject the
week before - but failed to invite the Post Office to explain their plans!
The Government has made clear its commitment to maintaining a national post office network, investing £2 billion since 1999 and providing a further subsidy of £1.7 billion up to 2011. Without this
Government subsidy only 4,000 post office branches would be viable across the country, compared to the current 14,000 and the 12,000 planned by Post Office Ltd.
According to Post Office Ltd, four million fewer people use post offices each week than two years ago. The network lost £4 million every week last year and faces challenges due to EU regulations,
new technology and falling customer usage, as people exercise consumer choice. Although maintaining the present number of post office branches is increasingly costly, the decision on closures lies
squarely with Post Office Ltd.
We can all do our bit to support local post offices by using them more. For example, from looking at their website, Hull City Council might do more to encourage people to pay council bills through
their local post office.
Finally, anyone wanting to sign the petition that I have organised against the closures can do so at www.dianajohnson.co.uk or by contacting my Hull
office on 01482 319135.
Yours sincerely,
Diana Johnson MP
Kingston upon Hull North
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8 November 2007: To Hull Daily Mail - published 16 November 2007
