MP asks if substitute post offices fill gaps adequately
VALE of York MP Anne McIntosh is urging her constituents to comment on the range of outreach services which were introduced to try to fill gaps left by Post Office closures.
A variety of services were provided across the rural areas of North Yorkshire. Some villages, including Borrowby, near Thirsk, Carthorpe, near Bedale and Terrington, north of York, are now served by a mobile Post Office.
Elsewhere, "hosted" services were provided by temporary counter positions in community buildings such as village halls, while Tollerton, near York, is one of the villages where a partner service is provided in which local business people run post office services from their premises. In Tollerton it is the village shop.
The final type of outreach replacement is the home service. This is designed to provide access to essential post office services in the most remote areas. It allows individuals to contact a core post office by telephone and request services in advance. This service is provided to the village of Hawnby, near Helmsley.
Andy Burrows, of Consumer Focus, said: "It's important that we hear experiences of using Outreach Post Office services in the Vale of York. I urge all local residents who use an outreach post office to get in touch with Anne McIntosh and have your say.
"Your experiences will inform our campaign to ensure Post Office outreach services meet your needs. The deadline is Tuesday July 21, so you'll need to get in touch with your MP soon."
Miss McIntosh said: "In 2007, the Government announc-ed the closure of up to 2,500 post offices. In 500 cases, the devastating effect of the closure of the post office was mitigated by the introduction of part-time outreach replacements.
"I would urge constituents of the Vale of York who have made use of any of these services to contact me about their experience of these services.
"I am particularly interested to hear whether the current provisions are acting as an adequate replacement for the post offices closed in the Government's cull of the rural post office network."
Comments should be sent to Miss McIntosh at the House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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