Tonge Questions Minister on Post Office Closures

1.15.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 25th Jan 2005

Dr Jenny Tonge, Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park took Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks MP to task in the House of Commons on Monday January 24th 2005 over the closure of post offices.

During Pensions Questions the MP asked: "Does the Minister recognise that a great number of people, perhaps of a particular generation, still wish to go to a post office to receive their pension or benefit? Will he put pressure on his colleagues in the Department of Trade and Industry to stop the closure of many post offices up and down the country?"

The Minister's response was to say that the Government had put £450 million into the rural post office network to try and safeguard the local post office system.

Dr Tonge has also written to Post Office Ltd's Head of Area, Paul Simmonds in a last-ditch attempt to persuade them to keep the sub post office at Dukes Avenue in Ham open. "My constituents are being made to suffer for this extremely eccentric decision by Post Office Ltd." the MP said.

ENDS

For further information please contact Jenny Tonge on pager number 07699 734071 or Serena Hennessy on: 020 8332 7919

Notes for Editors: Full text of letter attached

Paul Simmonds, Head of Area, Post Office Ltd., 80-86 Old Street, London EC1V 9NN 20 January 2005.

Dear Mr Simmonds

Re: Dukes Avenue Post Office Branch

Thank you for your letter concerning the decision to proceed with the closure of the above branch. I have consulted extensively with colleagues and constituents and write to ask if there is any way this decision can be re-considered because it really makes absolutely no sense.

I am aware that Post Office Ltd. believes the branch does not have enough custom to make it viable, even with the expected extra custom caused by the closure of Back Lane. I am aware also that the sub-post master in Dukes Avenue wants to close the branch and that, as a consequence, the place is seedy and uninviting.

The plain fact of the matter is that Post Office Ltd. has safeguarded and refurbished the wrong branch. Tudor Drive is off the beaten track and in a far less frequented location than Ham Parade. It has taken business away from the Dukes Avenue branch, thus hastening its demise. With a go-ahead Post Master, Dukes Avenue would have been a far more sensible location - it has two bus services, banks, parking, thriving shops and a massive amount of passing traffic.

My constituents in Ham are being made to suffer for this extremely eccentric decision by Post Office Ltd. If you look at the map, can you sincerely say it is reasonable to expect an elderly person living in, as it might be, Ashburnham Road, to walk all the way to Tudor Drive?

Please can this decision be looked at again.

Yours sincerely

Dr Jenny Tonge

Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park