Government is putting taxpayer first

WITH respect to Mr Geldard of Steeton (“Keep lifeline of post office”, Yorkshire Post, March 11), this Government is putting taxpayers first by enabling welfare claimants who receive their payments in cash to access their cash at PayPoint.

There are 26 PayPoint outlets in the Keighley area, compared with 17 post offices. PayPoint outlets are almost always open seven days a week from early morning until late at night. Post Offices are, at most, open 5½ days a week from 9.00am to 5.30pm and Saturday morning, often closing for an hour at lunchtime.

More than 4,000 people in Keighley loaded their gas and/or electricity meters last Christmas, when Post Offices were closed, nearly 200 on Christmas Day itself. So which is providing a better service to vulnerable customers?

The Government is also saving £105m through the lifetime of the contract, so taxpayers are being better served. At the same time, this Government has also promised to subsidise the Post Office to the tune of £1.34bn over the next four years. So it is hardly abandoning the Post Office.

Mr Geldard has obviously never used PayPoint or he would know what it is and how accessible it is. The payments in question affect less than two per cent of pension and benefit claimants, who do not receive their money directly into their bank account or through the Post Office Card Account. Many of them already use PayPoint to pay their bills, load their gas and electricity meters and pay their council tax and rent, so they do know where they are.

Abroad but in England

From: Maureen Hunt, Woolley, near Wakefield.

HAVING recently thoroughly enjoyed David Attenborough’s fascinating series about Madagascar on BBC2, it was almost too good to be true to find ourselves, on our own, inside an enclosure called Madagascar, at the South Lakes Wild Animal Park, near Ulverston.

We were surrounded by sunbathing, ring-tailed lemurs in close proximity to the park, who were perfectly relaxed and confident in their habitat and tolerant of us. For a short time, it was as if we were an accepted part of their world.

The park contained wooden walkways from which some of the animals could be viewed. This was particularly effective when the tigers had to scale tall poles, positioned quite close to the spectators, in order to grab their food which hung from nails at the top.

Spring was in the air and an amorous male giraffe was testing his mate’s condition and literally licking his lips with anticipation.

We witnessed a confrontation between a pygmy hippo, which continually opened its mouth revealing its huge teeth, and a very aggressive male mandrill with garishly coloured face. The latter was the victor as the hippo wisely acknowledged defeat before blood flowed.

This was an open zoo where the birds and animals had pride of place and often roamed freely – cotton-topped tamarins wandering through the bushes. It was a mini-paradise and claims to be one of the best conservation zoos in the country.

We may not be able to go abroad now but what does it matter when we can see such wonderful animals right here in England?

Volunteer who was sacked

From: William Dixon Smith, Welland Rise, Acomb, York.

PEOPLE who work for nothing deserve more than good luck (Yorkshire Post, March 9). When, after three years working as a volunteer for a local authority, I was summarily dismissed, I was told that if I wished to complain, I should take legal advice or apply to the Ombudsman. I did both.

The Ombudsman cannot accept complaints from volunteers. Their remit specifically excludes volunteers, who are regarded as “personnel”.

The solicitors (I took a second opinion) laughed. The law does not recognise volunteers as having any legal status whatsoever.

Tax relief for work done, as Peter Lyster suggests, would be not unwelcome to hard working volunteers. But recognition and justice first.

Osborne must stand firm

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.

UNLIKE many people, I hope the Chancellor doesn’t give in to the motoring lobby in the next Budget.

For under the last Labour Government, we saw both the abolition of the fuel price escalator, and reductions in the Road Fund Licence.

As a result, the cost of driving a car fell while public transport fares increased by more than the rate of inflation.

I would rather see the coalition not cutting the fuel price support paid to bus companies, a measure that will lead to reduced services and higher fares. But as someone dependent on public transport, I’m used to being regarded as a second class citizen.

Judge shows he is not fit

From: Roger M Dobson, Ash Street, Cross Hills.

FROM his pathetic sentencing of Emdadur Choudhury, the Muslim found guilty of burning replica poppies on the anniversary of Armistice Day, District Judge Howard Riddle is not fit for purpose.

Every ex-serviceman and member of the Royal British Legion must have been disgusted when reading of what went on near the Albert Hall in court.

The derisory fine of £50 imposed by Judge Riddle was a nasty distressing insult to all British subjects who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

The fine should to my mind have been £500 and not £50 and it is a great pity that Section 5 of the Public Order Act does not carry imprisonment.