Serving Quality

Protecting the future of our Post Office

The Post Office today

Integral part of community life in the UK with around 14,500 offices• 481 Crown Offices (publicly owned & run)• 14,000 Sub post offices and franchises (urban & rural)

28 million adults visit a Post Office every week

97% of the population visit a Post Office every year

94 % Population live within a mile of a Post Office

Post Office today Serving diverse communities

• Benefits and pensions payments

• Banking, savings and financial services

• Bill payments

• Mail services

• Government services (passports etc) Many offices incorporate additional services to

maintain small business income and serve communities

Many offices are based in deprived or remote areas where other businesses no longer operate

Social role – financial inclusion

More branches than all the high street banks put together

Branches in many areas where banks closed years ago

40% of banks allow transactions through the network

Over 4.3 million people use the Post Office Card Account to collect pensions and benefits at the Post Office

2.8 million Post Office Card Account users don’t have a bank account

Unique public ‘trust’ (Treasury and Trade & Industry Committees both highlighted this important factor)

Social role - local economy

Vital part of local economy – Case study – Manchester (New Economic Foundation study 2006)

• Provide cheap and accessible banking to small businesses (i.e. cash depositing)

• Every £10 earned by Post Office there was £16.20 generated for local economy• Local Impact Model (LIM) estimate loss of a single office

closure on the local economy is £270,000

• 60% of small business said the impact of closure was significant on their takings

Social role - Urban dimension

Post Offices generally mentioned in connection with rural community but they play key social role in urban communities

Sustaining community cohesion – Case study; Manchester (New Economics Foundation)• 60% of Community surveyed said that closure would

have a substantial impact

• Loss of urban community meeting place

• Loss of main non governmental agency assisting the vulnerable completing government forms

Social role - Urban dimension

Urban Post Office customers • 33% From deprived communities

• 10% Carers

• 14% Unemployed

• 7% Long term sick or disabled

• 20% of customers obtain services on behalf of family members

Social role - Urban Impact of closure

Disproportionate loss of urban Post Offices has large impact• Eight urban closures for every rural closure in past two

years

• 1 in 6 of urban closures in deprived areas London - 31.45% reduction in branch numbers April

2001 to September 2006 Urban offices sustain communities on a

‘tipping point’ from becoming ghost towns (NEF -Manchester)

Importance of Crown Offices

• Provide trial sites for new products and services (successful free ATMs trial etc)

• Offer full product range

• Generate disproportionately large amount of income for Post Office Limited

• Generate disproportionately high amount of revenue for business – 3% branches but over 20% of income

Importance of Crown Offices

More customer orientated

• Postcomm & Postwatch MORI market research demonstrated this.

Provide secure, well paid, unionised employment often in deprived areas

Most serve large urban deprived communities

The crisis facing the network

Financial crisis• In 2006 Post Office Limited are making an operating

loss of almost £4 million a week

Decline of network over last 25 years• 32% of Offices have closed since 1986

A reduction of branches from 21,000 in 1984 to 14,500 today

Why the crisis?

Transfer of payment of pensions and benefits to Direct Debit – loss of £268m per annum in government revenue as a result.

Loss of a number of Government contracts• TV Licence contract to Pay Point

• Tenders to conduct first time passport interviews (at 69 sites) to private operator, Mapeley.

Why the crisis?

Post Office does not receive the commercial rate for Government services • Trade & Industry Committee (ninth report)

• David Mills, former CEO of Post Office Limited

Uncertain future makes forward planning difficult – one of the reasons why the TV licence contract awarded to Pay Point by BBC

Government announcement – Challenges for the future

The DTI made a number of proposals on 14th December now subject to consultation until 8th March

Positive aspects of DTI proposals include• Acceptance of the social role of the Post Office

• Acceptance that the Post Office needs government support on this basis.

• Introduction of access criteria to some urban deprived areas

• 1.7 billion funding

• Replacement of Post Office Card Account in 2010

• Social network payment continued for rural offices

Government announcement – Challenges for the future

Negative aspects of DTI proposals

• Proposed closure of up to 2500 branches

• Proposed closure of significant number of Crown Offices and franchising to private operators

• Weak access criteria and definitions of deprived areas

• No social network payment for urban deprived offices

Worst case scenario 2500 closures & further franchises go ahead Post Office card account replacement product must

be put out to competitive tender (EU rules) – loss of contract by Post Office would be a catastrophe for Post Office an• Estimated loss to Post Office Limited of £400million per

annum = further decline of network

• Access to services diminished Consultation and public accountability continues to

be shunned Access criteria are not improved

The CWU alternative - A prosperous and secure future

Social value of network must continue to be recognised and fully supported by government• Network has enormous potential – tackle financial

exclusion

• No network in the world has achieved stable and sustained profitability – recognised by DTI

• No further reduction of an already diminished network

The CWU alternative - A prosperous and secure future

Sustainable and adequate state funding provided to the Post Office• Social network payment extended from rural to include

additional funding for urban deprived network

• Subsidy increased in view of social role Commitment to universal banking realised

through the Post Office• Developing a universal Post Office Bank Account

(great success La Poste, in Germany and Japan)

• Greater functionality than current POCA

The CWU alternative - A prosperous and secure future

Develop network as a portal for central and local Government services• ‘One stop shop’ for National and Government services

with trained practitioners for administering these services

• Postal voting

• Congestion charge

• Council tax payment

• Parking permits

• TV Licence

The CWU alternative - A prosperous and secure future

Financially support a successful Crown Office network and use these as flagship branches offering full range of services

Improved access criteria take account of all urban deprived areas not just ‘some’

The CWU alternative - A prosperous and secure future

Enhanced role for the public and local communities in the future of their Post Office

• Ensure a duty to engage public in future strategy of the network

• Strategic decisions subject to regional accountability – regional and national assemblies

• Increase consultation process on closures to three months and place a duty on Post Office Limited to meaningfully community consider counter cases

CWU Serving Quality Campaign CWU launching ‘Serving Quality’ campaign to

influence consultation process' Joint ‘all party’ campaign with other major

stakeholders – Protect Our Post Office• National Federation of Sub Postmasters

• National Pensioners Convention

• RNIB

• Age Concern

• Countryside Alliance

• Citizens Advice Bureau

• Women’s Institute

Protect Our Post Office Campaign – Joint statement

‘The following organisations; Age Concern, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Post Offices, Citizens Advice, Countryside Alliance, Communication Workers Union,  National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, National Pensioners Convention, Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Women's Institute are committed to securing the future of a sustainable Post Office network with a full range of services, including an enhanced Post Office Card account and other national and local Government products and services, allowing vulnerable groups to continue to access vital services in their communities. These organisations will press the Government to deliver on its recognition of the social and economic importance of Post Offices in both urban and rural areas and represent the voices of those who work in and those who use the post office network’

CWU Serving Quality Campaign

• Lobby of Parliament and rally – 20th February 1pm (Central Hall, Westminster)

• Lobby of Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly meeting, London Assembly lobby

• Political campaigning nationally and regionally

What you can do?

Help build and attend our lobbies Influence your local MP/MSP/Assembly

members/Councillors Visit our campaign web site –

www.cwu.org Make delegations to Regional TUC and

CLP’s via branches Request a speaker to your union branch

Contacts for further information

National campaign information

Nick Childs - 020 8971 7484 nchilds@cwu.org