Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine told the House of Commons on Thursday 6th September that the Government needs to stand behind Post Office branches in his constituency or push some of them out of business.
He said the pending decision about the future of the DVLA contract, which allows customers to renew car tax discs at their local post office branch, was a chance for the coalition to prove it was true to its word that no new branches will close.
Mr Brine said; "The Government have been absolutely clear that it will not entertain a process of post office closures, which is what happened repeatedly under the last Government. I asked the Minister for an urgent statement about the renewal of the DVLA contract because while the Government say they support post offices and making them viable front-office businesses, it needs to put its money where its mouth is and the renewal of this contract is a real test for that resolve. It is simply not good enough to say we are at the mercy of a Europe-wide tendering process.
"Over the Summer I have been lobbied by many post office customers in Winchester, largely concerned about the future of Kings Worthy Post Office. I don't believe the coalition wants to close post office branches but failure to support the renewal of the DVLA contract could have the unintended consequence of doing just that in some cases. Of course I understand many people chose to access post office services online and that is fine but over the counter services are important in customer choice and bluntly, a viable post office often means a viable local shop."
In response to the MP's comments, the new Leader of the House of Commons (Andrew Lansley) said: "The post office local model is an excellent model, and we are seeing substantial take-up, which is in many instances reviving post office services. The Government are absolutely clear that we will not entertain a process of post office closures. On the specific point, this contract process is currently live and it would not be proper for Ministers to comment or interfere during the course of that."
More information...
A full transcript of the exchange in the House of Commons is available here. In addition, more information about the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters campaign can be found via http://www.nfsp.org.uk/DVLA_campaign.asp.