Deadline for Post Office consultation

From the archive, first published Wednesday 7th Mar 2007.

The Government's national consultation on its post office closure plans closes on Thursday.

Within three to six weeks Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling will make an announcement in Westminster on the final national proposals.

By the start of the summer Post Office Ltd will begin drawing up its local blueprints for closures.

Following the publication of its plan, there will then be a six week local consultation.

When exactly this second consultation starts and when the final local decision is made will be up to the Post Office.

However, it wants the whole process completed by the end of 2008.

If Bradford is one of the first areas picked to go ahead with the local consultations, then the closures could start by the end of this year.

This week the Telegraph and Argus reported that the scale of Post Office closures in the area could be greater than first thought.

A Commons select committee raised fears that a second devastating wave of closures could follow the Government's current culling proposals.

Ministers have announced a blueprint which will see the axe wielded on 2,500 branches across the country, leaving a "sustainable" network of 12,000.

If the closures were spread evenly across the country then the five parliamentary constituencies of Bradford North, Bradford West, Bradford South, Shipley and Keighley could face losing about 17 of its 95 branches.

Under the scheme sub postmasters will be handed a £60,000 "golden-goodbye" if they close their branches.

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