Government deal saves Post Offices

Post Office Logo

Work and pensions secretary James Purnell has been credited with the saviour of 3,000 post offices nationwide after abandoning plans to offer the £1billion post office card account contract to the private sector.

The Post Office will carry on providing the service, which distributes benefits to 4.3million claimants.

Earlier this week the postmistress at Spotland Road Post Office announced to Rochdale Online her fears that the office would close if the card account was lost to the private sector.

The news that the post office account has been saved was welcomed by both Rochdale's MP Paul Rowen and Heywood and Middleton MP Jim Dobbin.

Paul Rowen MP said: “I am delighted with the decision and I know that this will come as a huge relief to many of the postal workers and customers across Rochdale. I would like to thank the residents of Rochdale who backed our campaign and also all of our post offices that had taken part."

Mr Rowen believes that the Government wasted money by looking at the possibility of privatising the account.

He said: “I will be pressing to find out exactly how much money the Government has wasted as I believe it was dragged out for far too long. I will continue to place pressure on the Department of Works and Pensions to make sure that we continue to bring more business to the Post Offices as this is the best way of securing their future.”

Rochdale’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Danczuk, also welcomed the news but was critical of Paul Rowen’s scaremongering around the issue.

“Yesterday, with all the omens pointing towards this contract being renewed, our Liberal Democrat MP told Rochdale Online that he expected bad news and that more post offices in Rochdale would close,” Mr Danczuk said.

“This is another example of how Paul Rowen does not know what is going on in Westminster and is only concerned with trying to make political capital out of bad news. He has already failed to get his much vaunted ‘Rochdale model’ off the ground, despite boasting that it would be replicated by other local authorities. And I’m afraid his latest hopeless post office prediction further damages his credibility.”

Mr Danczuk thanked the Labour MP for Middleton and Heywood, Jim Dobbin, for lobbying the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell, on this important matter and said he was very encouraged by the Work and Pensions Secretary’s statement that he would do “nothing to put the network at risk”.

Around 8180 people in Heywood and Middleton have their accounts with the Post Office.

Jim Dobbin MP said: "This is great news for the post office. I recently met with James Purnell to discuss this issue and I am delighted that the government has listened to what I have been saying on behalf of local people. I would like to thank everyone who has stood up and voiced their concerns on this issue.

"This is the right decision for the post offices and residents in Heywood, Middleton, Norden, Bamford, Castleton, Marland and Oakenrod."

James Purnell paid tribute to Mr Dobbin for campaigning on the issue, saying: "I applaud Jim Dobbin MP for standing up for local people and his local post offices. I know how important post offices are to local communities and this will provide real help for these local businesses and their customers in tough times."

Councillor Dale Mulgrew, who campaigned to try and save Buersil Post Office earlier this year, said: "This is superb news for the thousands of Rochdalians that hold Post Office Accounts. The government's delay on this decision has been very destabilising and I am glad we now have an assurance that the post office cards will remain with the post office until 2015."