Local MP Norman Baker has today spoken out over Government plans to abolish the Post Office Card Account which over 3600 people in the Lewes area regularly use to receive their pensions or benefits.
The Post Office Card Account, which replaced the old system of booklets and cash over the counter, is now set to be scrapped after the Department of Work and Pensions decided not to renew the £1bn contract with the Post Office to run the card because "better options" were available.
It is feared that the failure of the Government to renew this contract alongside the loss of the contract with the BBC to sell television licences earlier this year, may spell the end for many post offices. Post offices in rural areas will be particularly vulnerable after the current £150m-a-year subsidy for the rural network is withdrawn in 2008.
Commenting on the issue, Norman said:
"It is astonishing that the Government seems intent on destroying a service which is of such great value to so many people across in the local community and the country as a whole. The post office card account offers an accessible and affordable way for thousands of people in the area to receive their benefits, yet the Government is proposing to axe it.
"Without the vital revenue stream from the post office card account, the Government is further undermining the long term viability of the post office network meaning that even more than the 3,500 post offices already closed under the Labour Government will be put out of business. Local people have already suffered as a result of the numerous post office closures in the constituency, so for the Government to further endanger the few that remain is simply unacceptable."
|Home
Contact Norman at:
Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
Printed and hosted by Pipex Communications UK Ltd, Humber Buildings, Humber Rd, Beeston, Notts, NG9 2ET. Published and promoted by Norman Baker MP, House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 1AA. The views expressed are those of Norman Baker, not of the service provider.
