Post Office petition thank you

Thank you to everyone who has filled in the Lib Dem petition about Post Offices. For those of you who have missed it, this is what it’s all about: the government are phasing out the right of pensioners to get their pensions paid through post offices. They will have to be paid through a bank account instead. At the moment, elderly people have the choice of either the post office or a bank for receiving their pension. Across the country, five million senior citizens have opted for the post office.

The government pays individual post offices for each cash transaction. Many rely on the income they receive from handling pensions to stay open. Loss of the income will mean many will close. Those branches that do not rely on the payments will still see a drop in income as fewer elderly people will be visiting them and spending money in them.

The effect on many older people is that they will have greater difficulty in getting their cash – bank branches and bank owned cash machines tend to be concentrated in town centres. Many small towns, villages and estates that don’t have banks do, however, have post office branches. Many of these are likely to close. Where cash machines exist in small towns, they are normally privately owned and operated. And it costs a great deal of money to use them.

The effect on the rest of us is that many people will lose their post office and all the services that it provides.

The petition therefore asks the government to keep the current practice of giving people the choice of getting their pensions and benefits through either the post office or a bank.

So far, Liberal Democrats have collected 500 signatures on the petition in Blaydon constituency and will be aiming to collect hundreds more over the next few weeks.

Photo: Sheila Wright, counter manager for Fellside Post Office in Whickham, joins Councillors Alan and Marilynn Ord and Jonathan Wallace at the launch of the Lib Dems' petition to save Post Offices from closure.