Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Govt gifting Post Office to sub-postmasters, managers would be 'poison chalice'

Govt gifting Post Office to sub-postmasters, managers would be 'poison chalice'
Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

The Government is reportedly holding a meeting today (7) between business minister Kevin Hollinrake and representatives of the co-operative movement, union officials and other stakeholders, to revive plans to mutualise the Post Office.

However, sector experts ParcelHero say handing over ownership of the Post Office to its branch managers is far from the generous offer it appears. The Post Office needs significant modernisation and investment.


"Stakeholders and sub-postmasters should be in no hurry to take on ownership of the UK’s struggling Post Office. It could be like inheriting a seemingly valuable country home that is actually decaying and mortgaged to the hilt," said Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T.

"Following the Horizon scandal, the Government clearly now sees the Post Office as a hot potato it wants to pass on to new hands as soon as possible. However, very little has changed since 2012, when it first attempted to offload the Post Office to its managers at the same time that the Royal Mail was privatised.

"Back in 2012, the Government’s own report, 'Building a Mutual Post Office', recommended: 'A formal transfer of ownership should only take place when commercial sustainability and financial stability have been achieved.' That goal has yet to be achieved.

"For the financial year 2022/23, the Post Office Group posted a total statutory loss of £76 million and ended the year with net liabilities of £799 million. That does not represent commercial sustainability.

"Today's meeting has been called by the Communication Workers Union, which represents Post Office operators but, following the Horizon scandal, its timing is certainly fortuitous for a Government seeking to divorce itself from the troubled organisation. Hundreds of Britain’s sub-postmasters were prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting because of problems in the Post Office’s faulty accounting software.

"The scale of the problems facing the Post Office are still huge. Letters are in significant decline and other revenue streams, such as the Post Office Card account, have closed. Even its contract with the DVLA is now under rolling review. In a 2023 Parliamentary debate on the future of postal services, MP Tahir Ali said: 'There are big cracks in the Post Office network that gesture towards a bleak future.' He warned that the Government has been 'significantly reducing investment in the network'.

More for you

National President Mo Razzaq 2024 serious 1 1
Fed National President Mo Razzaq

Indies: It’s criminal police and government turn blind eye to shoplifting

Independent retailers are demanding tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.

A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.

The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.

According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The ONS added that this figure was the highest since records began – in March 2003.

“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.

PayPoint

PayPoint unveils new partnership with Leeds Credit Union

PayPoint has announced a new partnership with Leeds Credit Union (‘LCU’), a financial cooperative with 37,000 members, enabling them access to its CashOut service, effective immediately.

The partnership will mean that LCU customers can access their cash and savings across any of PayPoint’s UK network of 29,000 retailer partners. This represents an unprecedented growth in accessibility and the first partnership of its kind for LCU. Historically customers have needed to visit one of LCU’s four branches to withdraw money.

Keep ReadingShow less
Philip Morris to close German factories as cigarette demand declines
A Philip Morris logo is pictured on a factory in Serrieres near Neuchatel, Switzerland December 8, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Philip Morris Shutting Down German Factories Due to Declining Cigarette Demand

Marlboro-maker Philip Morris said Tuesday it planned to close down its two production sites in Germany, citing falling demand for cigarettes among Europeans.

"In recent years, demand for cigarettes in Europe has fallen significantly," the company said in a statement, adding that it saw the same trend for roll-your-own tobacco.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nisa retailer Prem Uthayakumaran donates thousands to support local communities

Nisa retailer Prem Uthayakumaran donates thousands to support local communities

Nisa retailer Prem Uthayakumaran has made significant donations totalling £3,500 to two local community organisations through Nisa’s Making a Difference Locally (MADL) charity.

The funds will provide essential support to groups within the communities that his stores serve, helping them continue their invaluable work.

Keep ReadingShow less
High streets pay over 'one third of UK's business rates'
(Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

High streets pay over 'one third of UK's business rates'

High streets in the UK are collectively pay one third of all business rates while accounting for 9 per cent of the economy, British Retail Consortium (BRC) stated on Thursday (24), strengthening its call for a fairer level of business rates for hospitality and retail.

BRC and UKHospitalityare united in their call for the Chancellor to implement a fairer level of business rates for hospitality and retail at the Budget, which will rebalance a system that unfairly punishes our high streets and town centres. This was a manifesto pledge from Labour ahead of the election.

Keep ReadingShow less