Fighting local Post Office closures

In October last year, 2,000 sub-postmasters marched on parliament protesting at Post Office closures and presented a 4 million signature petition to the Labour government; the largest ever UK petition.

The Conservative party have already been running a petition on this issue for sometime but with consultation on proposed closures inthe Derby area ending in two weeks time, we encourage anyone who wishes to express thier concerns write via freepost as soon as possible to;

Network Development Manager, c/o National Consultation Team, FreepostConsultation Team.

The Conservatives continue to oppose Labour post office closures nationally and in Derby City. 4000 Post Offices have already closed under Labour and we believe that Post Offices are essential for people who rely on them to collect benefits and pensions. Local business also relies on Post Offices.

Local post offices including those in Wilmorton, Abbey Street, Ashbourne Road, Mansfield Road, St Thomas Road and Derby Road at Shelton Lock are all under real threat.

We are proposing to give sub-Post Offices more freedom to offer a wider range of business services and push for more Post Offices to be 'One Stop Shops' - trained staff could then advise on a range of matters including tax returns, pension entitlements, the opening hours of local pharmacies, how to apply for a disabled parking badge etc.

We also want to encourage local Councils to open 'Council Counters' in local branches, allows the Post Office to work with carriers other than the Royal Mail and prevent them taking business away from sub-Post Offices by under cutting the prices they can charge for postage.

We have also pledged, if forming the next government, to immediately stop the compulsory closure of profitable sub-post offices and review new ways of bringing additional business into the network, so we can maintain the service rather than merely manage its constant decline.