Site icon Inside Croydon

Age UK calls for Mayor Khan to act against Post Office closures

insidecroydon

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.

Inside Croydon – If you want real journalism, delivering real news, from a publication that is actually based in the borough, please consider paying for it. Sign up today: click here for more details


Exit mobile version