Mhairi Black: Post offices closure process was a sham

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IT WAS a bit ironic to be taking part in a debate on the future of post offices last Thursday – on the same day as the doors finally slammed shut on Paisley’s Crown post office. As I’ve mentioned before, Paisley was on the target list of Crown post offices to be closed down and replaced by a counter in a WH Smith store. This debate highlighted the common problems faced by MPs and their constituents when trying to fight against the Post Office closure plans.

From this debate it was clear that these closures were all pre-planned and the consultation process was a sham. The Post Office wasn’t willing to listen to the public, the whole process was more of an effort to dupe the public into thinking their opinion actually mattered when in reality this was just a PR stunt.


In my own constituency the lack of any serious consultation with the public by the Post Office led to me having to organise a well-attended public meeting. I must give credit to the Post Office staff who turned up, as I think it is fair to say they were on to a hiding from the public, especially as they were either unable or unwilling to answer the most basic of questions from the public. It was clear they were only there so that the Post Office could say they were listening.

None of the ideas put forward by public or trade unions were listened to – the public were simply ignored. One specific example was the size of the post office – it operated from three shop units in the Piazza shopping centre. If there was an issue with the running costs could it not be reduced in size to two, or even just one shop unit? After all, a question to a government minister revealed that since 2010 this post office had used just under £500,000 of public money to renovate their premises – now with the closure all that money was wasted. Another issue that was overlooked by the Post Office was the economic impact of closing the Crown post office. A lot of the other retailers in the Piazza rely on the footfall that the post office brings and they are now genuinely worried about the lack of potential customers and how it will affect their businesses. Yet this was of no concern to the Post Office, so much so they didn’t even bother to assess what the closure would mean to the town.

Of course, there were suspicions the whole consultation process was a sham when the Chief Executive of the Post Office went into hiding and, despite repeated efforts by myself and my office, flatly refused to meet with me to discuss the future of Paisley’s Crown post office. There is a distinct lack of accountability within the management of the Post Office. If that organisation is still looking to save money then maybe they should turn to the Chief Executive and senior management who won’t talk to anyone and hide from the decisions they make, irrespective of the impact these have on local communities.

The consultation was confirmed as a sham when I later realised that WH Smith were advertising for post office staff two weeks before the consultation had even finished! It is clear that the Post Office had no intention of listening to the views of the public. This wasn’t a consultation, it was merely a process to publicise their intentions. I’ve still to meet one single person in Paisley who supported the closure of Paisley’s Crown post office.

Another common theme in the debate was the concern about the impact of the closure on post office customers. In Paisley, as elsewhere, we will see the loss of experienced staff, some with 20 to 30 years’ experience, replaced by WH Smith shop staff being paid the minimum wage. There will also be a reduction in the services offered. Processing biometric passports is no longer available in Paisley – or even Renfrewshire – with anyone needing such services now having to travel to Glasgow. The same applies to the many refugees who have been welcomed into Paisley and Renfrewshire. The digital application services for the Home Office will now only be available nine miles away in Glasgow, yet the refugees who rely on this will find themselves with no money or transport to get there! The Post Office claims that downgrading Crown post offices and sticking them into shops like WH Smith allows for longer opening hours, but what use are longer opening hours if they don’t provide the full range of services that people are looking for?

At one stage we were informed that the post office counter in WH Smith would be at the front of the shop to allow easy access for all customers. I don’t think anyone was surprised to find it placed strategically at the back of the shop, in an attempt to ambush customers into buying other goods, rather than just the service they want from the post office.

It was clear from Thursday’s debate that the current process of closing down the Crown Post Office network and reducing the number of post offices overall raises concerns about a long-term sustainable future for the post office network. The Post Office is undergoing privatisation by the back door. The decision to separate the Post Office from the Royal Mail in 2012 was a terrible mistake. The Post Office cannot be treated just “as a business” as it is an essential public service. It’s time to look again at this whole issue and bring the Post Office and the Royal Mail back together and under public ownership.