DESPITE final decisions being made on the future of our local post offices earlier this year, post offices in general still continue to account for a significant proportion of my postbag and email inbox.
The specific issue right now is the Post Office Card Account. Over the last couple of years, Conservatives repeatedly called on the Government to review its decision to abolish the account and we were delighted when they bowed to pressure and agre
ed to continue with a new account after 2010.
Why is this so important? The answer is that the account is absolutely vital for people who don't have bank accounts – often the most vulnerable people in our society.
But there is another aspect to this and that's the importance to Post Office Ltd of the account being continued.
At the moment over four million people access their benefits at a post office each week and want to continue doing so. So, lots of local people have been writing asking me to sign a motion in the House of Commons, calling on the Government to ensure that the Post Office is awarded the contract for the new account.
The Post Office network is ideally placed to continue operating the account and I know that their bid will be extremely strong. I'm also aware that losing the account may threaten the future viability of many branches – they simply won't be able to survive without the business that operating the account gives them.
Unfortunately, matters aren't as simple as just applying pressure on the Government. There is a legal requirement for the contract to be put out to competitive tender – a result of an EU directive.
This has caused a great deal of concern for local people and has led to another bout of uncertainty for our sub-postmasters and mistresses and so I'm monitoring the situation closely.
On a national perspective, although the Government's hands are tied by the EU directive, I really do feel that they should be working much more to boost the Post Office network – not just managing its decline.
The Government should focus on bringing new business to Post Offices.
Conservatives have focused on a pro-active and positive plan to ensure the survival of our much needed and cherished post offices and it includes encouraging local councils to operate 'council counters' in local branches, giving sub-post offices greater freedom to offer a wider range of commercial products and pushing for more post offices to be 'one stop shops' for central Government services.
This is a problem that requires long-term solutions.
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