Bring Back Southwark Post Offices (Southwark Liberal Democrats)

Southwark Liberal Democrats <info@southwark-libdems.org.uk>

Bring Back Southwark Post Offices

January 5, 2012 10:37 AM

Liberal Democrat councillors and Simon Hughes MP are calling on Southwark Council and Post Office Ltd to enter into discussions about post offices in Southwark.

Lib Dem Minister, Ed Davey MP, has announced government investment of £1.34 billion to support local post offices. He has also said that Post Office Ltd should be talking to councils about the post offices in their borough, where the best locations would be and how they can be combined with other services like libraries, council one stop shops and police front counters. Post offices can often be the heart of a community, acting as a communications hub for the exchange of information, services, money and products. In difficult economic times they provide a proper range of responsible financial services and there are many more services which they could provide in the future for central and local government, particularly for people who don't have access to the internet.

Local Lib Dem councillors, Cathy Bowman and Anood Al-Samerai, have tabled a motion for the next council assembly meeting calling on the council to start . They will also, this month, be meeting with senior officials from Post Office Ltd to discuss how this could be done through the council's scrutiny process. And they have launched a petition at www.campaigns.libdems.org.uk/southwarkpostoffices

Councillor Anood Al-Samerai. Leader of the Southwark Lib Dems said "This is a great opportunity for us to undo some of the damage caused by the Labour government's closure of post offices in places like the Brandon Estate. New post office front counters and services can be used to regenerate shopping areas in our communities and with creative thinking new post office services could be combined with other local facilities like libraries."

Save Southwark Post Offices