Cllr Iain Lindley's Diary

So, if the press leak is accurate, the official announcement on Tuesday of the next stage of Post Office “reform” will see the Labour Government proposing the closure of three Post Offices in Salford:

1. Lewis Street in Patricroft, Eccles
2. Langworthy Road, Langworthy
3. Oldfield Road, Adelphi, near to the old Salford Royal Hospital

The Government report says that “deprived areas will be safeguarded against closures”, but it is easy to see from the list above that this is nothing more than spin. None of the three Post Offices facing the axe in Salford could possibly be described as being in affluent suburbia. Indeed, the Langworthy Road Post Office is at the heart of a key regeneration area.

I do not support the Government’s proposals to axe these Post Offices and I know that Conservatives both here in Salford and in Westminster are committing to protecting the services that local Post Offices provide for their communities. Indeed the Conservative Post Office Action Plan is worth reprinting in full:

Freeing up Sub-Postmasters – We will rewrite Sub-Postmasters’ contracts, allowing them to provide a greater range of products and services, including private mail services.

Using Post Offices as Government GP service – We will investigate a scheme whereby people who have concerns about a range of Government services, such as tax returns and pension entitlements, can use their local Post Office as a kind of ‘Government GP’.

Campaigning on the Post Office Card Account – This scheme is hugely important to those people who do not have bank accounts and around one million of our most vulnerable people cannot get a bank account.

Encouraging ‘Council Counters’ – We will encourage local councils to see what services they could provide though Post Offices and whether they could use the Post Office network in their area to better engage with local residents.

I firmly believe that genuine support from both Government and local Councils will render these damaging closures entirely unnecessary.