"I've been involved in some vociferous rows about this I can tell you."

Details of our meeting with Kim Howells today...many thanks to Tove Oliver for sending the committee room pic

We met Dr Howells after Prime Minister's questions, he was very welcoming indeed. He took us to Committee Room 12 of the House of Commons and, following the meeting, which lasted half-an-hour, he took us on a mini tour of the House, filling us in on parts of its history.

On reflection, after reading the quotes that follow, I don't think anyone could have asked for much more from Dr Howells today, we thank him again for allowing us to visit the House to make our case.

He began the meeting by reading a letter, dated January 7th, from Pat McFadden of The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The letter stated that closing post offices is not popular but they are being used more infrequently by the public, that very large sums of money are being lost each week as a consequence (for details on the sums involved I suggest you watch The Politics Show video on this site which goes into detail on these matters).

It also stated that the Government is keen to maintain a national post office network and that it recognises the important social and economic role of post offices, particularly in rural and deprived urban communities.

Dr Howells said that the point he tried to make in his formal submission to the consultation was that in areas like Pontypridd the topography is not typical of many areas in the UK.

He illustrated this by saying the difference between the lowest street that's served by his post office in Craigwen, and the branch, which is just 600 yards away, is 300 feet.

"For a fit person that can be quite a strain but for somebody who is frail, disabled or very elderly it's an impossible 300 feet," he said.

"I was talking to Paul Murphy about this last night and he has exactly the same problem at his constituency in Torfaen. He says there will be a five mile gap to the nearest post office to the north or to the south of that valley if his office goes.

"So the point that we've been trying to make, as part of this consultation, is that it's not simply the proximity of the post offices, it's the difficulty people have in getting there, on foot or even by car because parking is not always easy."

Dr Howells said it remains to be seen what the consultation result will be, but he said he found the recent response from Postwatch Wales, which called for a review of four post offices (including ours) earmarked for closure as "quite encouraging."

However, he added that: "I don't take this as some kind of confirmation that Llantrisant will stay open. It is absolutely vital that the pressure is still applied."

At this point Councillor Holmes made a very passionate speech about why the post office should be saved.

Glynne also presented Dr Howells with a picture of Llantrisant, drawn by a local artist, and to be passed on to the Prime Minister so as to illustrate the hilly nature of our town (I will upload Glynne's speech later this week, with details of the artist, Rob Parslow, when I have more time).

Dr Howells then kindly took some questions from us. Below I have summarised what he said, and, for simplicity, grouped together the quotes he made on the broad issues raised.

ON HOW TO CAMPAIGN BEYOND THE CONSULTATION PHASE: "The tactics you use are up to you as an action group but I think of all the seven post offices I've been trying to save I think you've had by far the most vigorous campaign.

"It's the only organised campaign that I know of for a start. I've had lots of letters from other post offices although some have sadly sent no letters at all.

"But I'm not sure you can do more than you have done really. I think that when they make the announcement then maybe in the run-up to that it might be an idea to be visible somewhere.

"My own observation is that I don't think the public like civil disobedience as much as they did 20 years ago.

"I've been involved in some pretty vociferous rows about this I can tell you and people argue that I should be doing more important things...so you've got another group who couldn't care less about what's happening to the post office.

"I think Postwatch's response shows the impact your campaign has made has produced results. I'm encouraged that Postwatch has identified Llantrisant as one of just four in the whole of Cardiff and the Glamorgan valleys area for review, that's pretty amazing and a direct result of the pressure you've put on in all sorts of ways."

ON THE FACT THAT PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO USE THE POST OFFICE TO PAY CAR TAX OR THEIR TV LICENCE ANYMORE: "With respect I understand that argument but we don't live in that society anymore, you can't turn back the clock. There's much more choice around now and people like choice. For example I feel deeply uneasy at the way the supermarkets are killing off parts of our villages - but people like supermarkets.

"I would very much like to see more people use post offices and I'm very sorry that people these days tend to go to other places, you can buy stamps almost everywhere now.

"But there are people who like using the post office. There are some people, like my mum in the Aberdare valley, who like going to the post office to get her pension, it's a very important part of her life, her social life, and it worries me that aspects like this are not being given an adequate airing. We'll see about that. One of the good things that's happened is that the Select Committee that deals with the Department for Business and Enterprise has decided to look at the consultation itself.

"They asked me for a response - and Ministers are not supposed to respond to these things - so I wrote them a very short letter which you might find interesting."

Here Dr Howells read out the letter which stated that, like his constituents, he was not happy with the consultation process. He described the process, in the letter, as "questionable".

ON THE EFFECT ON SMALL BUSINESSES (made in response to a mum who said her daughter had written to Post Office Ltd. worried about her business, one that employs thirteen people): "If she's written to the Post Office about what you say, that's the most powerful argument anyone can make.

"This is a very busy post office and it seems to me that what they've done here is make an across the board decision and that's the fatal mistake it seems to me. Llantrisant is an area of growth, not decline, and what really worries me about the future is if young people get out of the habit, or don't know about using the post office, they never will use it.

"They bank online, they send e-mails to each other and not letters...the post office is a place that makes society more cohesive.

"I think it's absolutely vital that the people who make the decision understand that details matter and that's what worries me...in the letter I wrote to the Select Committee I said I was very worried that the nature of what is going to happen isn't properly taken into account in the decision making.

"You can understand the economics of the thing but you've also got to understand the social details."

The question and answer session ended on a humorous note when one lady asked Dr Howells if the people who will make the decision on closing or retaining our post office were aware of the geography of Llantrisant. With a nod to Councillor Holmes' highly detailed speech Dr Howells said...

ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF LLANTRISANT: "Are they aware of the geography? I think they are now! To point one of a metre!"