Gareth Mantle, from Jane Davidson's office, kindly sent me a copy of a letter Jane recently received from Huw Roberts, Director Welsh Affairs, Royal Mail Group.
The letter was dated January 7th, below are extracts from Mr Roberts' letter.
MR ROBERTS ON THE FACTORS CONSIDERED WHEN A POST OFFICE CLOSURE IS PROPOSED: "...customer usage (measured by customer session data) proximity (measured by road distance) to other branches, the branch's relative size to surrounding branches (used in order to calculate the impact of migration to surrounding branches) and commercial benefit to Post Office Ltd."
ON THE DIFFICULTY OF ACCESSING NEIGHBOURING POST OFFICES: "My colleagues and I have visited the Llantrisant area on a number of occasions and considerable research has been undertaken on the ground prior to public consultation.
"I acknowledge your point that the High Street is winding and hilly in particular with the juntion with Talbot Road, Cross Inn Road and Cardiff Road. However, there is a regular bus service in operation to both neighbouring branches with the journey taking approximately five minutes."
ON TAKING PROSPECTIVE FINANCIAL BENEFITS INTO CONSIDERATION: "Post Office Ltd has contacted every local authority in the country to ask for any information they hold on future regeneration plans, improved transport links and any road improvements. The aim is to ensure Post Office Ltd has one eye firmly on the future when designing a network of sustainable Post Offices."
ON THE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON COSTS TO THE POST OFFICE AND A TARGET FOR USAGE WHEREBY THE BRANCH WOULD BE SUSTAINABLE: "Our financial information is held in commercial confidence and will not be made public."
ON THE PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTATION: "...it's not to undertake a detailed scrutiny of our financial position or comparison of such between branches. The consultation is about giving stakeholders an opportunity to comment on the service provision proposed...an opportunity to bring to our attention information we should be considering in our decision. Financial information does not fall into this category...profit for an individual subpostmaster does not necessarily translate as a profit for Post Office Ltd.
"Pay is the most significant cost in our business model, and as we reduce our prices to compete, we cannot cut pay by the same rates."
Do you think Mr Roberts' arguments are convincing? Are all his points, particularly with regard to the bus service, factually correct? Let him know what you think!
You can leave a comment here.
Alternatively you can write to Huw at the following address: Huw Roberts, Director of Welsh Affairs, Royal Mail Group, 220 Penarth Road, Cardiff.
You can also contact Jane Davidson at: Unit 10, Maritime Office, Woodland Terrace, Maesycoed, Pontypridd, CF37 1DZ.
I'll keep you updated on any feedback/responses I receive regarding Mr Roberts' letter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment