STUNELL: LIB DEMS DELIVER DEAL TO BLOCK POST OFFICE CLOSURES IN STOCKPORT (Darlington and Sedgefield Liberal Democrats)

Darlington and Sedgefield Liberal Democrats <joe.kelley@darlingtonlibdems.org.uk>

STUNELL: LIB DEMS DELIVER DEAL TO BLOCK POST OFFICE CLOSURES IN STOCKPORT

January 26, 2012 12:15 PM
Originally published by Andrew Stunell

Andrew Stunell at launch of Post office Campaign There will be no more Post Offices closures in Stockport after Lib Dems in government secured a ten-year deal between the Post Office and the Royal Mail. Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell, a long-standing campaigner against Post Office closures, hailed the new deal as "a very welcome move" that will safeguard the future of the Post Office.

The deal, announced this week by Lib Dem Business Minister Ed Davey, will give additional certainty to sub-postmasters across the UK and covers the full range of Royal Mail products available at post offices such as first and second class post, parcels, air mail, recorded and special deliveries.

The deal adds to other recent progress for the Post Office, with extra Government cash kicking in, new national and local government contracts won, successful piloting of new models to transform many local post offices and improvements in financial services offered.

The new national deal will end Labour's shameful Post Office closure programme, which saw more than 7,100 Post Offices disappear in their 13 years in office, including 11 in Mr Stunell's Hazel Grove Constituency. Labour also botched an attempt to scrap the Post Office Card Account (POCA), being forced into a U-Turn by Mr Stunell and the Lib Dem MPs before the election.

Commenting, Andrew Stunell MP said:

"After years of Post Office closures under Labour, it is excellent news that Liberal Democrats are doing the right thing by ensuring that the Post Office has a sustainable future ahead of it.

"Post Offices are a vital part of our communities and are the lynchpin of our towns and villages. Yet residents in my constituency saw 11 branches closed over a six-year period under the last government.

"Labour left Royal Mail and the Post Office network in a terrible mess, and it is Liberal Democrats in the Coalition who have stopped closures and put Royal Mail and the Post Office on a secure footing. Our plans mean that we will never see the kind of planned closures that devastated local communities under the previous Labour Government."

ENDS