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Ministerial statement on Thursday, 17 May 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Darling of Roulanish.

Post Office Review

Statement on post offices.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
460 c753-72 
Session
2006-07
Department
Department of Trade and Industry
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Alistair Carmichael | 460 c771 (Link to this contribution) May I invite the Secretary of State to expand more fully on the answer that he gave to my hon. Frien...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c771 (Link to this contribution) The access criteria are there to ensure that there is reasonable access to post office services acro...
Show all contributions (77)
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c772 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that the analogy is entirely appropriate. My hon. Friend is right to say that througho...
Geoffrey Cox | 460 c772 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State understand the gloom that will descend on small rural communities throug...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c771 (Link to this contribution) It will be possible to use the Post Office card account, both now and with its successor, in post of...
David Leslie Taylor | 460 c771-2 (Link to this contribution) Despite the welcome announcements on broadband, Credit Union and POCA, the bleak reality is that for...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c772 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, I very much hope that the arrangement with WH Smith will encourage more people to...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c772 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely why we strengthened the criteria as a result of the consultations carried out.
Martin Horwood | 460 c772 (Link to this contribution) Much has rightly been said about rural post offices in this discussion, but Hesters Way in my consti...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c761 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, the Post Office needs to show a degree of flexibility, and to give reasons for its d...
Tony Lloyd | 460 c761 (Link to this contribution) People in my own city will strongly welcome the commitment to a role for the local authority. The Po...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c760 (Link to this contribution) That illustrates how, with a suitable degree of enterprise, the Post Office can attract new business...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 460 c760-1 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the decision of the Post office to retain the Crown post office in Haywards Heath. First, ...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c760 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. I have attempted to deal with many of the suggestions in the...
Lindsay Hoyle | 460 c760 (Link to this contribution) Given my right hon. Friend’s announcement, this is a very sad day for post office users. He ought to...
Peter Luff | 460 c759-60 (Link to this contribution) Although there are things to welcome in the Secretary of State’s statement today, especially the imp...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c761-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman asked about the consultation period. As I said earlier, the National Federation o...
Mike Penning | 460 c761 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Member for Crawley that this is a very sad day for our constituents across the...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c761 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend’s point. I know that Alan Cook, the chief executive of the Post Office, ...
Peter Soulsby | 460 c762-3 (Link to this contribution) I too am deeply concerned about the proposal of Post Office Ltd to close 70 Crown post offices and r...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c763 (Link to this contribution) I understand that most of the pilots conducted with WH Smith have been warmly welcomed. Of course in...
Nigel Evans | 460 c763 (Link to this contribution) This is a bleak day, not just for the post office network but for rural villages up and down the cou...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c763 (Link to this contribution) I realise that the hon. Gentleman will not have had an opportunity to read the Government’s final pr...
Charlotte Atkins | 460 c762 (Link to this contribution) Companies such as BT and Severn Trent impose a surcharge of £4.50 a quarter on those who make paymen...
Jo Swinson | 460 c762 (Link to this contribution) Many of my constituents are deeply concerned about the plan to move Kirkintilloch post office to WH ...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c762 (Link to this contribution) The Post Office is entering into a long-term commitment with WH Smith. I know that there was great c...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c764 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend says, the decision was made by the Post Office. As he has raised the matter,...
Nick Raynsford | 460 c763-4 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has emphasised the importance of access criteria to ensuring that the Post Offi...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c753-5 (Link to this contribution) With permission, Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a statement on the Post Office. Last December, I...
Alan Duncan | 460 c755-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for giving me advance sight of his statement. Nothing much seems to h...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c756-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman might have received my statement an hour or so ago, but he clearly did not read i...
Baroness Kramer | 460 c757-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for giving me advance sight of his statement today. I regret that the...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c758-9 (Link to this contribution) First, the hon. Lady criticised the Post Office’s decision to enter into a deal with WH Smith in rel...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c759 (Link to this contribution) First, the access criteria are important because they provide reasonable access, and I hope that tho...
David S Borrow | 460 c759 (Link to this contribution) If the proposals go through, many people will be concerned that if the same pressures continue on th...
Speaker | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) Order. That was a lengthy question.
Mark Hunter | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) Following the announcement today that the Government intend to close a further 2,500 post offices in...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c769-70 (Link to this contribution) The answer to my hon. Friend’s question is yes, if somebody decided to close their post office with ...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support—if that is what it was. As for the timetable, fr...
Nicholas Winterton | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to Post Office Ltd for keeping the Crown post office in Macclesfield as part of its ne...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend on that point. It is important that the Post Office should speak to coun...
David Drew | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) This remains a bitter pill for some of us to swallow, in particular the potential conflation of the ...
David Kidney | 460 c771 (Link to this contribution) More post offices will close than new outreach services will open. In rural areas, what factors will...
Lynne Jones | 460 c769 (Link to this contribution) Several post offices have already closed in my constituency, leading to increases in queues with con...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c768 (Link to this contribution) The 13,000 post offices are private businesses. They are run by postmasters and postmistresses who e...
Tony Baldry | 460 c767-8 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State said in his statement, ““We also want to encourage community ownership. There...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c768 (Link to this contribution) The answer to that question is yes. I am aware that pilot projects have been carried out in my hon. ...
Russell Brown | 460 c768 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has made a serious attempt today to deal with this matter. We have a historic...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c768 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman was present earlier when I made my statement. I said that t...
Vincent Cable | 460 c768 (Link to this contribution) Page 18 of the Government response says that about half of the closures will be in urban areas. How ...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c769 (Link to this contribution) Lessons do need to be learned from the previous programme. It is important to ensure that consultati...
Brian Jenkins | 460 c769 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend said that we would give Post Office Ltd the ability to shape the network. Howev...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c769 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman welcomes the improved and strengthened criteria in relation to rur...
Danny Alexander | 460 c769 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the improvements to the access criteria for the most remote communities, but the statement...
Alan Reid | 460 c767 (Link to this contribution) May I draw the Secretary of State’s attention to today’s written ministerial statement from the Depa...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c766 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend’s point perfectly; she has already raised the matter with me. This is pe...
Karen Buck | 460 c766 (Link to this contribution) There are 15 Crown post offices where a franchise partner is being sought but has not yet been ident...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c766 (Link to this contribution) Of course the Government will work with the devolved Administrations, and as I said a few moments ag...
Hywel Williams | 460 c766 (Link to this contribution) Plaid Cymru welcomes the intention to give the devolved Administrations a greater say in shaping the...
Mark Todd | 460 c765-6 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Secretary of State will turn to his ministerial colleague and warn him of the unrelentin...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c767 (Link to this contribution) At the risk of irritating my hon. Friend by stating another obvious fact, let me say that Government...
Baroness Hoey | 460 c767 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State keeps repeating the obvious: that he cannot force people to use postal servic...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c767 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the Post Office card account will be used across post office counters, but we also want to make...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c764 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I should make the same offer to my hon. Friend as I made to my right hon. Friend the Member ...
David Lepper | 460 c764 (Link to this contribution) I welcome what the Secretary of State has said about the future of the Post Office card account, but...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c765 (Link to this contribution) Yes. The National Assembly and the devolved Administrations in Northern Ireland and Scotland will be...
Roger Williams | 460 c765 (Link to this contribution) I sincerely hope that the proposed consultation will be more transparent than the one on which the S...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c764 (Link to this contribution) The facts that led me to come to the House to make these proposals have not changed: the Post Office...
Anne Milton | 460 c764 (Link to this contribution) I share the deep cynicism of my constituents about any public consultation these days, believing tha...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c765 (Link to this contribution) That sounds like a worthwhile initiative, and I know that the Under-Secretary of State for Trade and...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c765 (Link to this contribution) There are many example of innovation that have meant that post offices will build their business and...
Robert Walter | 460 c765 (Link to this contribution) The Department for Work and Pensions informed me yesterday that two of three jobcentres in my consti...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c762 (Link to this contribution) I take my hon. Friend’s point, but those are commercial arrangements between companies and the Post ...
Chris Ruane | 460 c765 (Link to this contribution) First, I am pleased and relieved that the two Crown post offices in my constituency—in Denbigh and R...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c766 (Link to this contribution) A number of branches have Paypoint. Also, the changes that I am proposing will cut some of the Post ...
Speaker | 460 c759 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have other important business to protect. Equally, I am aware that interest in this subject...
Lord Darling of Roulanish | 460 c770 (Link to this contribution) I shall make just one point. Is the hon. Gentleman really suggesting that he should go to his consti...
Subjects
Access Closures Broadband Finance Financial services Post offices Postal services Post Office Shops Post office card account WH Smith
Link
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