Last week Post Office Ltd (POL) made a decision about the future of the Post Office branch at 22 Western Road, Hove. Disappointingly, despite over 7,400 objections about the plans to close the branch and merge it with another in Melville Road near Seven Dials, POL has decided to plough on with its plans.

I believe that the plans are ill-thought through and short-sighted. Ill-thought through because I do not believe that POL has done its homework and fully assessed the impact the closure will have on neighbouring branches, including the branch in Churchill Square in my constituency. Short-sighted because I struggle to believe that it’s not possible for a branch in such a prime location as Western Road to become profitable.

I have serious concerns about the impact the closure will have on other Post Offices in the area, which are already overstretched. On that basis I have written to the Chief Executive of POL to highlight the concerns that I have. A copy of my letter to Paula Vennells is copied below.

As I said in my earlier blog (http://bit.ly/1jx96CM), Post Offices make a huge contribution to the local economy, in addition to being a lifeline for many older and more vulnerable residents. I am urging POL to re-look at its plans, and revisit the consultation that I believe is flawed. I hope that POL listens.   

_________________________________________________________

Paula Vennells

Post Office Limited

148 Old Street

London

EC1V 9HQ

18^th October 2015

Ref: 000/LC/002/CL

Dear Paula,

Re: Western Road Post Office, Hove, BN3 1AF

I’m disappointed to learn that, despite over 7,400 petition signatures and 400 written responses objecting to the proposal, that Post Office Ltd (POL) is forging ahead with its plans to close the branch at 22 Western Road.

In my earlier letter opposing the plans I stressed the impact the closure would have on other nearby branches, including the nearest branch in my constituency, situated at WHSmiths in Churchill Square.

Whilst I’m pleased to hear that POL, following evidence presented by Citizens Advice, now recognises that the Western Road branch customer base will most likely migrate to the branches at Churchill Square and Hove, it concerns me that this was not apparent to POL at an earlier stage.

Citizens Advice has expressed serious concerns about the ability of the branches at Churchill Square and Hove to cope with the increased customer numbers. As a result of the discussions with Citizens Advice, I understand that POL has now agreed to increase staffing at the Churchill Square branch, a branch where service standards are already deemed poor. Please would you confirm how many additional staff POL intends to employ at the Churchill Square branch, and what assessment it has carried out regarding the capacity of the branch to cope with the additional customer numbers? With the queue frequently 30 or more customers deep, it’s not clear to me where POL will be able to accommodate enough additional staff comfortably.

I believe that POL has also stated that the Hove branch is ‘likely’ to undergo modernatisation in early 2016. However, Citizens Advice has stated that they ‘remain doubtful whether these measures will credibly address either the existing reported poor service standards, nor position the branch suitably to absorb any additional custom as a result of the Western Road closure.’

From my experience, and from the conversations I have had with my constituents, it’s clear that the Churchill Square branch is already hugely overburdened. It is unfair, and unrealistic, to expect it to be able to cope with a significant increase in customer numbers. Given the fact that POL was seemingly lacking in basic local knowledge when it assumed that the Western Road customer base would most likely use the Melville Road branch, I would urge POL to postpone the branch closure until a more robust analysis of the situation has been carried out. I would also argue that POL should not consider making changes until the Hove modernisation has been completed.

Furthermore, given the fact that POL admits that the Western Road branch customer base will most likely use other branches, instead of the ‘merged’ branch in Melville Road, I would argue that, what POL initially described as a merger can no longer be called that – it is in effect a closure of a Crown post office. On that basis I am calling in to question the consultation process that POL has carried out, arguing that it was flawed, and has not followed the Code of Practice on Public Consultation and Communication with respect to a change in the Post Office network, which states that:

“There may be occasions when we proactively seek to change your local network, working within the access criteria outlined by the Government, to ensure that service provision is efficient, effective and sustainable for customers in a particular locality. These plans might involve closure of an outlet, the merger of an outlet, converting a Crown branch into a franchised branch, replacing an outlet with a different operating model (such as a form of outreach). In these cases, we will put together a practical way forward, contacting the relevant local authority in doing so. We will also make sure that access criteria outlined by the Government continue to be met and that local factors are taken into account. We will explain the proposal to the public in a consultation exercise which will focus on specific issues within the proposal by asking distinct questions of the public.”

Given the above, I would suggest that if POL decides to continue with its plans to close the Western Road branch, a more accurate consultation needs to take place, making clear that the customer base of the branch being closed will most likely use the Churchill Square and Hove branches. I do not believe that ‘local factors’ have been satisfactorily taken into account during the consultation process that has taken place.

I refuse to accept the impact the closure of the Western Road branch will have on my constituents without further challenge. I do not believe to date that POL has carried out an open, honest, and accurate consultation, and that the closure should be delayed until that has happened.

I look forward to hearing from you further on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas MP