Report - The post office network in Scotland

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The post office network has traditionally been a place where consumers have been able to carry out a wide range of transactions with public service providers, including both the UK Government and their own local authority. The availability of these important services at the post office is arguably one of the reasons why the network has been estimated to contribute a ‘social value’ to UK citizens of approximately £2.3 billion every year

However, in the past five years there has been a sharp decline in the extent to which different government services have been available and used at the post office. In 2004/05, government services accounted for nearly half (£576 million) of all revenue received by the post office. By 2009/10, this had declined to £167 million – only around a fifth of all post office network revenue
There are a number of reasons for this decline: consumers are increasingly using online applications to access services rather than visiting their local post office; the UK Government is paying more benefits directly to customers rather than providing these through the post office; and some key government contracts (for example TV licence payments) have been awarded to other providers such as Paypoint.

The UK Government has indicated that it wishes to reverse the trend of government services moving away from the post office, and has stated that it wants ‘to see the post office become a genuine front office for government at both the national and local level . Consumers can still access a range of UK Government services at the post office, including renewing car tax; having a passport
application form checked and sent; applying for and renewing a driving licence; and receiving benefits, pensions and tax credit payments via the post office card account. Further examples of the role that post offices might play in supporting consumers to interact with government in the future include :
● identity verification – checking and scanning documents, photos and signature
● checking documents, scanning these and sending them to government – therefore helping consumers without access to the internet to benefit from electronic government services
● helping consumers to make payments to and receive payments from government departments
● enabling consumers to notify government of a change in their circumstances through a single contact rather than having to deal with several government departments
● helping to deliver the new Universal Credit benefits system

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