Agenda No 4 AGENDA MANAGEMENT SHEET Name of Committee Cabinet Date of Committee 31 July 2008 Report Title Post Office Network Change Programme - Impact of Closures in Warwickshire Summary This report sets out information on the Post Offices closure programme, actions taken to date and asks Cabinet to discuss the recommendations that will be made by the Economic Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 22 July 2008. For further information Roy Shearing - Principal Kushal Birla – Head of please contact Officer, Business Support Customer Service and Services Access Tel. 01926 412737 Tel. 01926 412013 [email protected] [email protected] Would the recommended No decision be contrary to the Budget and Policy Framework? Background Papers None. CONSULTATION ALREADY UNDERTAKEN:- Details to be specified Other Committees X Council – 24 June. Local Member(s) .......................................................................... (With brief comments, if appropriate) Other Elected Members X Councillor P Barnes Councillor M Jones for information Councillor P Morris-Jones Cabinet Member X Councillor C Saint (Reports to The Cabinet, to be cleared with Councillor Mrs H Timms appropriate Cabinet Member) Chief Executive X J Graham Legal X D Carter – comments incorporated I Marriott, J Pollard Finance .......................................................................... ww5 Post Office Closures.doc 1 of 6 Other Chief Officers X D Clarke - Resources Graeme Betts – Adult, Health and Community Services District Councils X Health Authority .......................................................................... Police .......................................................................... Other Bodies/Individuals X Postwatch, Post Office Ltd, Area Managers, Alison Hodge (Warwickshire Association of Local Councils), E Cordwell, Steve Patalong, Eric Britton and Ayub Khan FINAL DECISION YES (If ‘No’ complete Suggested Next Steps) SUGGESTED NEXT STEPS : Details to be specified Further consideration by .......................................................................... this Committee To Council .......................................................................... To Cabinet .......................................................................... To an O & S Committee .......................................................................... To an Area Committee .......................................................................... Further Consultation .......................................................................... ww5 Post Office Closures.doc 2 of 6 Agenda No 4 Cabinet - 31 July 2008 Post Office Network Change Programme - Impact of Closures on Warwickshire Joint Report of the Strategic Director for Environment and Economy and Strategic Director of Performance and Development Recommendation 1. Members are asked to note the actions taken so far and consider the recommendations made by the Economic Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 22 July 2008. 2. That the Strategic Directors of Performance and Development and Environment and Economy in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Economic Development and Corporate Services be given joint delegated responsibility to approve the final response to Post Office Limited on behalf of Warwickshire County Council. 1. Summary 1.1 On 24 June 2008, Post Office Limited (POL) announced proposals to close 22 post offices in Warwickshire, with five being replaced by an outreach service Appendix A. At a Council meeting on 24 June 2008, it was agreed that the Economic Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee, at its meeting on 22 July 2008, should contribute to the preparation of a response to be considered by Cabinet on 31 July 2008. 2. Introduction 2.1 A report, setting out the programme for managing the impact of the Post Office closure announcements was issued for Council on 24 June 2008 Appendix B. 2.2 At the Council meeting, a summary briefing note was issued to all Members identifying the locations proposed for closure, including those where an outreach option was proposed. 2.3 Council endorsed the following recommendation:- ww5 Post Office Closures.doc 3 of 6 (i) That the initial comments of the Council be taken into account in preparing a response from the County Council, in conjunction with our partners. (ii) That the effect of the proposals should be reviewed thoroughly and all options for responding to the social and economic effects of the proposals be examined including any ways in which the Council can support local communities. (iii) That the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees contribute to the preparation of a response to be considered by Cabinet on 31 July 2008. 3. The Closure Programme 3.1 On 24 June 2008, Post Office Limited (POL) published its Area Plan proposals for closing 22 post offices in the county, replacing five of them with an outreach service (see Appendix A). 3.2 POL has engaged with various stakeholders when preparing this Area Plan Proposal including Postwatch and local authorities (Warwickshire local authorities sent a joint response on 5 February 2008) to provide information and views relevant to the factors they were able to consider. 3.3 POL claim that their proposals would meet with minimum access criteria set by Government and that, for 91% of customers, this would mean no change to the Post Office® branch they currently use. 3.4 Outreach services are proposed for five locations in the Stratford on Avon constituency. The outreach solution would be located within the same community as an existing Post Office branch and provide Post Office services for a designated number of hours per week. 3.5 The Outreach Service currently has four different service models: Mobile Service, Hosted Service, Partner Service and Home Service (rarely used). 3.6 The solution to be applied at the five locations will depend on a negotiated arrangement between POL and the current postmaster or other interested parties in the community affected. 3.7 Public consultation will end on 4 August 2008. 3.8 It should be noted that POL branches not listed for closure in the Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire area may be subject to a further review after the six weeks local consultation period if a successful appeal against any of those identified for closure is made (“Information about the Post Office Network” – Mark Partington, Network Development Manager). ww5 Post Office Closures.doc 4 of 6 4. Action Plan 4.1 County and District Officers have met on a number of occasions, most recently on 25 June 2008, to share information and best practice. A further follow up meeting is planned for 22 July 2008. 4.2 A meeting took place on 9 July 2008 in Shire Hall, which was attended by elected Members, officers and Clerks from County, Districts and Parishes. POL and Postwatch also attended the meeting. The briefing note from this meeting is attached as Appendix C. 4.3 Public consultations have taken place in the affected areas around the County, organised in partnership between County, District and Parish Councils. MPs have also called their own meetings, e.g. Mike O’Brien: (Ridge Lane) Ridge Lane Methodist Community Church and Community Hall on 5 July, Jeremy Wright: Clifton on Dunsmore on 11 July, Overslade Lane, Rugby on 17 July and Kenilworth (Albion Street) on 24 July, James Plaskitt (West Street, Warwick and Milverton) on 28 July. An update will be given at Cabinet on the findings to date of the public consultation meetings. 4.4 All post offices identified for closure have been contacted by an officer and offered support, making information available (e.g. on changing demographics, planned housing growth, access issues) to build a case opposing closure if that is the outcome desired by the sub postmaster and community. Business advice regarding diversification, developing new services or other aspects of the business has been offered from our business support services, Warwickshire Rural Community Council Field Officer (for rural post offices) and Business Link (for urban post offices). It is clear that some post masters will take the severance package offered by POL as their business income has already fallen to unacceptable levels. 4.5 Success in reversing POL’s decision would depend on evidence of incorrect information used by POL, information about substantive new developments that might alter demographics or insufficient recognition of disadvantaged community issues. POL data has been based on 2001 census, so may be out of date although current Warwickshire Observatory validation is only significantly different for population in four cases (Bramcote, Ilmington, Long Compton and Wilmcote - see Appendix A). 4.6 Examples of decisions elsewhere in England that have been changed include: Gloucester Avenue - Northampton, where plans for a new sheltered housing unit hadn’t been included in considerations, Stamford, where a new University Campus expansion was being planned and another location in Staffordshire where new sheltered housing and inaccessibility of the alternative post office led to a change. Officers will be gathering relevant information to see if there are similar substantive issues that may help individual cases. 4.7 A Post Offices update, which included advice and information provided by Warwickshire Observatory, was sent out to Members and other community representatives on 16 July - see Appendix D. Note that catchment area figures may not be the same as population within one mile radius. ww5 Post Office