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Postal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, today we face a situation in which we are not short of ideas about what to do about the Royal Mail and the Post Office network. We have had a very good debate in that direction with varied suggestions. The Government have their view and ideas, as set out in the Bill, but there is no certainty about the end-game. There may not be unanimity on the solution, but there is general agreement that the postal services have problems that need to be addressed. The Government are vulnerable on this issue. They do not carry the body of the people in this country with them, although there are signs from the Government today in what the Secretary of State said that there are possible changes that could at least make the Bill more acceptable. We on these Benches welcome that. There is a lot in the Bill that we welcome, but we will have points to make in Committee. What do we have to do? We have to ensure that we have a continual obligation to a six-day universal service. We have to protect the service, which is vital for the public and the business community. We have to provide a good management structure so that the workforce is engaged and motivated and ensure that at the end of this process investment will be provided for post offices as well as for the postal services to ensure that our local offices remain and, indeed, expand rather than contract, as we saw recently. As part of what we are undertaking through the Bill, we need to address that sector at the same time. We all know that there is concern to ensure that local communities and the business sector have a Post Office network to serve their needs. When we come to talk about the Bill, it is crucial that we do not confine ourselves to the postal service and business but address the local community and what it needs. There were quite a lot of contributions. Just a moment ago, the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Prosser, spoke about the concern about the management of postal services. For quite some time, there have been problems between the workforce and the management. I may have got it wrong, but I was slightly surprised when the noble Lord, Lord Clarke, said that he did not think there were problems with management. Many speakers would disagree about that, and many have spoken in that refrain. One gets the impression that there is no confidence in local and higher management in the postal services or between the two. Whatever happens, the issue of management must be addressed. I made the point in the skills debate last week that too often in this country we talk about the workforce being trained to do its job and in skills of various sorts, but in the postal services and in many other businesses in this country the management also needs to be trained. It needs to look at business in a way that motivates the workforce rather than puts it off. Management should work with the workforce, not separately. That is as much the case with the Post Office as anywhere else. Part of what we talk about in the next few weeks and months must be management. We on these Benches propose share ownership. It would make a big contribution to how the workforce and management work together. I welcome the talk from the Secretary of State and the Conservative Benches about possible worker participation, share ownership or whatever it may be. That is one of a number of crucial points that we wish to raise. I do not want to say much more than we have had a good debate. This is just the start of what we have to do. There are many issues to be addressed. Many noble Lords have great experience and knowledge. I hope that we will be able to achieve consensus. We on these Benches want to see a proper workforce arrangement and investment in the postal service and in the Post Office as a whole. I look forward to engaging with my colleagues in the debates we shall have in Committee.