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Postal Services Bill

To develop our post office network, it is necessary to be imaginative and creative. Sadly, we are moving in the opposite direction. The Government's stance could not be clearer. They have rejected a number of opportunities to make the commitment firm in this important legislation. They have declined to accept a statutory commitment, as exists in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, to a figure of 11,500. They have rejected the embedding into the Bill of the access criteria on how near people's local post office will be. Post offices locally cannot live on warm words alone; good intentions and high hopes mean naught if we cannot have guarantees for the future.