Burstow: Decision on Post offices welcome, but waiting times remain unacceptable

12.14.00pm GMT Fri 15th Jun 2007

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, has welcomed confirmation from the Post Office Ltd that the area's two Crown Post offices, on Grove Road and the High Street, are to remain open, but has expressed concern over waiting times in excess of 10 minutes at one of the branches.

Mr Burstow said he was concerned by the waiting time figures for Grove Road and the High Street, particularly in light of a possible threat to Sutton's sub-post offices.

At the end of last year, Mr Burstow wrote to PostWatch, the body responsible for overseeing the Post Office network, to ask for information about waiting times at local branches. PostWatch found that average waiting times at the Grove Road Post Office was unacceptably high at 10 minutes 36 seconds. The waiting time at the High Street at just under 6 minutes, was also above the Post Office's own target waiting time of 5 minutes.

Commenting on these findings, Mr Burstow said:

"These findings confirm my fears about the impact of sub-post office closures - increased pressure on the area's major post offices as more and more customers are redirected there."

"This confirmation that the High Street and Grove Road branches will remain as crown offices and will not be put out to franchise is welcome."

"But given the already unacceptably high waiting times at these two locations, I remain concerned that any sub-post office closures will place unbearable strain on these branches."

"I plan to write to the Minister responsible to request that this information be taken into account when decisions about the area's sub-post office are made,"

Notes to Editors:

1. Paul Burstow wrote to PostWatch in December 2006. In a response received in January 2007, PostWatch gave information from research undertaken in September 2005, which revealed the following:

Sutton Post Office (Grove Road)

Average queuing time: 7.2 minutes

Average % of serving positions open: 79%

Sutton High Street (St Nicholas Centre)

Average queuing time: 7.8 minutes

Average % of serving positions open: 83%

Mr Burstow received a further letter in June 2007, containing information from further research undertaken in March:

Sutton Post Office (Grove Road)

Average Queuing time: 10 minutes 36 seconds.

Sutton High Street (St Nicholas Centre)

Average Queuing time: 5 minutes and 54 seconds

The Post Office Ltd's target queuing time is just 5 minutes.

2. Paul Burstow received a letter from the Post Office Ltd on 14th May confirming that both Sutton's Crown Post offices will remain within the crown network and will continue to be directly managed by the Post Office Ltd.