Post Office closures slammed as tens of millions of aged danger being left behind | UK | News | EUROtoday

More than a 100 potential Post Office department closures might be “very dispiriting” for tens of millions of older individuals who “rely on traditional services”, in response to the top of a number one aged charity.

Some 1,000 jobs are in danger beneath a sweeping overhaul because the group appears to spice up postmaster pay by £250 million over 5 years.

As a part of the adjustments the corporate revealed it’s seeking to offload 115 directly-owned branches inside its 11,500 community, which may see them transferred to retail companions or postmasters, or doubtlessly closed.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, stated the adjustments match right into a “longer-term pattern” dealing with those that “are not comfortable and confident computer users”.

She informed Express.co.uk: “Today’s news fits into a longer-term pattern of announcements about contractions in the availability of Post Office services, as the organisation responds to a rapidly changing market where more and more communications are going online.

“This is very dispiriting for older people who don’t use the internet and who therefore rely on traditional postal services, as they have done throughout their lives.

“Since millions of older people in our country are either not online at all or are not comfortable and confident computer users, it’s vital that a decent traditional Post Office service continues and is protected for the foreseeable future.

“It remains a valuable part of our national infrastructure and needs to be treated as such.”

Despite the foreboding information, enterprise minister Gareth Thomas stated no choices have been taken to shut any of the remaining 115 instantly owned branches inside the Post Office’s 11,500 community, as he responded to the proposed overhaul outlined by firm chairman Nigel Railton.

Mr Thomas additionally informed the Commons: “Doing nothing on the Post Office is just not an possibility.”

Making a statement to MPs, Mr Thomas said the Post Office provides “important” banking services and he raised the importance of postmasters.

But he also pointed to the Horizon scandal which saw more than 900 subpostmasters prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.

Mr Thomas said: “We need to recognise that the Post Office is much from good.

“We have seen this from evidence given at the (Post Office Horizon IT) inquiry. It’s clear there needs to be significant cultural change at the Post Office to ensure it genuinely prioritises the needs of postmasters and delivers customers’ needs far into the future.

“It’s additionally clear extra must be performed to rebuild belief inside the enterprise and with the general public who rely on their companies.

“It’s no secret too that the business is facing commercial challenges – nearly half of its branches are not profitable or only make a small profit from the Post Office business.

“Postmaster pay hasn’t elevated materially for a decade. The firm has a excessive value base and desires to rework its IT system.”