Post offices continue to close as part of growing trend
There was a growing trend to closing UK post offices over the past 12 months, according to the Communication Workers Union.
The union told how over 1,000 post offices were shut or had been put up on the property market for sale in 2010 – with many not even featuring on closure lists put out by the Royal Mail. As well as this, it added that even more closures loom if the government continues its plans to privatise the company. However, after being pressed to comment, the courier denied a programme of closures had been put in place and expressed that there had always been an element of turnover.
In its statement, Communication Workers suggested that in 2010, 162 additional post offices became listed as being long-term temporary closures as more than 900 were also put up for sale. While many are likely to stay closed full-time, those that do reopen will offer a diminished service, it was added. The CWU also warned that those up for sale are set be shut down using temporary closure loopholes.
Defending the company, a Post Office spokesman told how the government has already explained it has no programme of closures and remains the largest network anywhere in the UK that will always have an element of turnover.
In October, the coalition government’s Business Secretary Vince Cable revealed that private buyers will be allowed to own anything up to 90% in Royal Mail, while its Post Office sub-branch could be mutualised. Should this happen, an independent firm will be set-up to sort out delivery operations