The charity Age UK has joined the campaign to save London’s Post Offices – including the under-threat counter service provided on Croydon High Street.
Days are numbered: Croydon’s town centre Post Office is one of 115 to be closed or disposed of
The Post Office closure plans were revealed in November, with 115 Crown Post Offices to close and 1,000 workers to be laid off in a move condemned by union leaders as “immoral”. Of the branches earmarked for closure, 32 are in Greater London.
Today, Age UK London posted on social media, “Post Office branches are a lifeline to older Londoners and people of all ages, particularly those that do not use the internet.”
The charity has welcomed a motion passed by the London Assembly which called on Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, to use his influence to challenge the Post Office decision.
The City Hall motion said that Mayor Sir Sadiq should: “Support London’s local communities and high streets by writing to the chair of the Post Office Ltd board, Nigel Railton, asking that the decision is reconsidered…
“Publicly pledge his support for the 32 affected Post Office branches in London remaining open…
“Pro-actively engage with the Department for Business and Trade and the Post Office to ensure the voice of Londoners is heard in this decision making process.”
Silent: MP Sarah Jones has said nothing about the Post Office closures in Croydon. Her government department effectively owns the Post Office
A junior minister in the Department for Business and Trade is Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon West.
London Assembly Members supported the motion which stated, “Post office branches are essential to our communities – helping pensioners access and manage their money, small businesses send out stock and visitors change currency.
“The closure of so many branches across the city would make life more difficult for thousands of people.”
The motion cited research by the National Audit Office that found that those most acutely affected by Post Office branch closures are the elderly, disabled and parents of young children.
The Assembly motion said: “The Post Office is owned by the government, through the Department for Business and Trade and UK Government Investments, however the Post Office Ltd Board has responsibility for the operations of the Post Office.”
More than just selling stamps: the Post Office is often a hub of communities
The Post Office is – or was – the largest retailer in the country, often providing an anchor for communities, offering mail and banking services to approximately 6million small businesses. The locations that have been earmarked for closure are the last remaining sites that are directly owned by the Post Office – known as Crown Post Offices. There were almost 400 in 2012.
Other sites earmarked for closure under the latest plans include Brixton, Clapham Common, Kennington Park and London Bridge branches.
There are about 11,500 Post Office branches across the country, of which 115 are centrally owned. The rest are operated by independent post office operators under contract and partners such as WH Smith and Tesco.
The closures announcement came with the Post Office still embroiled in the sub-postmasters scandal, in which hundreds of innocent independent, private businesspeople who ran Post Offices were persecuted, some prosecuted, because of a failing Horizon computerised payments system.
Age UK London is now asking Mayor Khan to act on the motion passed at City Hall.
In November, Inside Croydon asked Croydon West MP Sarah Jones for a comment on the Croydon Post Office closure.
We have never received a response.
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I understood from an earlier Inside Croydon article that the Post Office in Croydon high street is earmarked for closure, and that Post Office’s services were being considered to be offered in WH Smith in the Whitgift Centre.
If the rumours in the press over the last 3-4 days are true that WH Smith is to sell all of its high street retail stores because those retail outlets are not profitable, shouldn’t the Post Office think again about retaining Croydon’s Post Office in Croydon high street?
I don’t understand how a town of roughly 400,000 people cannot continue to have a standalone main post office operating in its town centre.
Not sure where the WH Smith/Whitgift Centre notion entered the equation, John, beyond some spit-balling of ideas in one of our podcasts, where the suggestion of giving the Post Office two or three rent-free years in the Whitgift Centre, encouraging footfall in the otherwise desolate place, was discussed. It is definitely not part of the Post Office’s masterplan to completely destroy its own business, seemingly egged on by this Labour government, with “Silent” Sarah Jones … silent.
Who’s going to brave the Whitgift Centre to top up their Post Office Savings book?
Perhaps I misread the earlier article in Inside Croydon, where I thought consideration was being given to relocating services being offered at present in our high street Post Office in WH Smith.
In any event, WH Smith has for some years provided post office services in a number of large towns and cities following closure of main post offices (Windsor is an example).
Labour, just like the Conservatives before them, don’t believe in public service. They only care about making a quick profit. They have no interest in providing post offices in a convenient location and the long-term future of services in this country, they are only looking at the price tag on the property.
This process has ben going on since the early 1980s and gradually all of the buildings that used to belong to us are being sold off. Our libraries, youth centres, Council houses, community buildings, and now post offices are being closed and ending up on the books of private businesses who then charge a fortune to rent them back to us – the same way our public services were privatised and now our bills have gone through the roof just to pay a fortune to CEOs and shareholders.
It’s time for change, and real change this time. Not switching to a bunch of millionaire con artists who are only interested in stirring up hate and cutting taxes for themesleves. We need change to a system that values people and cares about working together to make life better for all of us.
We are not going to fix everything overnight but we have to start by not making it worse and then electing people who will genuinely work to make things better for everyone.
I am ashamed of sarah jones labour mp of not saying anything about the post office closure in croydon considering her government department owns the post office i urge people to write to their mp in support of keeping croydon post office open for the vital services it gives to the community it is a disgrace our post offices and banks are closing regarding banks move your current account to nationwide they would be glad of even more members and they have kept a commitment not to close branches i had to move to nationwide when my virgin money bank closed in croydon but for me nationwide is so much better this labour government has no care for public services they have no plan for local councils which is why all local councils in the country are in a financial mess i would never vote labour again
Easy to say this Peter, but what exactly is the Green’s solution? Do you want banks nationalised? Please say.
How about you answer this point put to you just four days ago: “Show us somewhere, anywhere in the UK, where Conservatives have done anything worthwhile”
We’re partly to blame for the banks closing branches – we don’t use them any more.
People do, or did, use bank branches.
They definitely cannot use a branch that has been shut down.