Andrew Griffith MP invited postmasters from across the Arundel and South constituency to join him for a discussion on the future of post offices and the local response to the government’s Green Paper consultation, on Thursday (11th September).
The meeting was held at Fittleworth Stores and Post Office, and attended by postmasters from Steyning, Storrington, Arundel, Amberley, and West Chiltington. Jack Foden, the Area Manager for Post Office Limited also joined the meeting.
The Green Paper is out to consultation until 6th October, to which anyone can respond. Andrew will be making the case for the mainly rural post offices in the South Downs villages. 43 per cent of the network are rural post offices which deliver 20 per cent of the Post Office’s turnover. The concern is that these may be regarded as the most vulnerable in the network.
One of the key questions in the consultation asks if the network of 11,500 post offices is the right number?
Colin Woods of Amberley Post Office made the point – echoed by others at the meeting - that many of his customers are elderly, don’t drive, and seek more than just a brief over-the-counter transaction. Many don’t want to have to travel to access a bank and prefer to use banking services provided by the post office. Other customers include many small businesses who need to process parcels and cash transactions.
All of the postmasters agreed that the post office services in rural locations are trusted services run by dedicated staff who go above and beyond and know their customers.
The consultation has a number of questions under three main categories – A vision of the service for the next 5 to 10 years, funding and transformation, and modernisation. The outcome will either be a government response to Post Office Limited by Spring 2026, or a White Paper and a further consultation.
The MP's roundtable discussion covered all aspects of running small rural post offices, including limitations on the transactions they can carry out, competition in the parcel delivery sector, business rates, and access to cash. They have welcomed the changes at the top of the business with a new Chairman and Chief Executive, and hope that the strong foundations can help to deliver a secure network.
Following the meeting, Andrew Griffith said:
“It was vitally important for me to hear from our local postmasters who do an incredible job of maintaining post office services across our villages. I recognise that it is not the easiest business to run, and the rewards for doing so have been slowly decreasing. I am determined to protect the services we do have by responding to the government consultation and to help them to explore ways that could strengthen their unique contribution in our rural high streets.
“The government’s Green Paper should be an opportunity to sort the business at the top out and set strong foundations for its future through feedback from those who operate in the network to those who use the service.”
The Consultation can be read and responded to at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/green-paper-future-of-post-office/green-paper-future-of-post-office.
Other ways to respond include by email to [email protected], or by post to: Post Office Consultation, Department for Business and Trade, Old Admiralty Building, London, SW1A 2DY.
