ROYAL MAIL

First published 14th November 2007

Forty-nine post offices across Sussex could be closed under plans to reduce the network of branches across the UK.

A six-week public consultation commenced on Tuesday 13th November 2007 and closed on Christmas Eve.

Under the plans, the Post Office said more than 99% of the area's population will either see no change, or will remain within a mile of a branch.

Councils and MPs in Sussex have already launched campaigns against the move, urging residents to "use or lose" their post office services.

West Sussex County Council promised a "high-profile" campaign, and Mid Sussex District Council said people should keep their local branches busy, and open.

'Serious blow'

In the first wave of consultations in October, which included Kent, East Yorkshire, and the East Midlands, the government said cuts were needed because the post office network was losing £4m weekly.

Four million fewer people were using post offices each week than two years ago and losses had risen from £2 million a week in 2005 to £4m-a- week last year, it added.

It also pointed out that, on average, fewer than 16 people a week used the 800 smallest rural post offices, at a cost of £17 per visit to the taxpayer.

But Wealden MP Charles Hendry said closures would come as "a serious blow". He said: "The decision has been completely unnecessary."

And he added closures would cause "profound inconvenience to those people who rely on them, especially the elderly or disabled", with some facing long walks up steep hills to reach another branch.

And David Lepper, Brighton Pavilion MP, said: "Consultation ends on Christmas Eve. This is a time of year when many people will think especially about how much they rely on their local Post Office.

"We will be contacting people in the areas affected and urge everyone to make sure they register their protest."

Two branches have been proposed for replacement by an outreach solution, which are the Barns Green post office near Horsham, and Plaistow near Billingshurst.

Someone please explain what an “outreach” solution means!

The 49 branches earmarked for closure are:

 Bowness Avenue, 8 Seadown Parade, Lancing

 Church Road, 137 Lower Church Road, Burgess Hill

 Claremont Road, 23 Claremont Road, Seaford

 Collington, 2 Collington Mansions, Bexhill-On-Sea

 Copthorne, Common Road, Copthorne, near Crawley

 Crowhurst, near Battle

 Downlands, 1 Downlands Parade, Worthing

 Durgates, Durgates, Wadhurst

 Elm Grove, 150 Elm Grove, Brighton

 Etchingham Road, Etchingham Road, Eastbourne

 Fairways Estate, 4 Newick Close, Seaford

 Framfield, The Street, Framfield, near Uckfield

 Franklands Village, Franklands Village, Haywards Heath

 Hailsham Road, Hailsham Road, Heathfield

 Heene Road, 62-66 Heene Road, Worthing

 Landport, 34 Lee Road, near Lewes

 London Road, 91 London Road, Bexhill-On-Sea

 Marine Parade, 15/17 Seaside, Eastbourne

 Mount Pleasant, 2 Avis Parade Shops, Newhaven

 New England Road, 42-44 America Lane, Haywards Heath

 North Chailey, Haywards Heath Road, near Lewes

 North Lancing, Mill Road, North Lancing

 North Parade, 24 North Parade, Horsham

Old Shoreham, Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham-By-Sea

 Old Town Hastings, 70 George Street, Hastings

 Preston, 221 Preston Road, Brighton

 Preston Road, 13 Preston Road, Brighton

 Queen Street, 70 Queen Street, Horsham

 Richardson Road, Richardson Road, Hove

 Slindon, Slindon Top Road, Slindon, Arundel

 South Lancing, 83 South Street, South Lancing

 Southern Cross, 86 Trafalgar Road, Portslade, Brighton

 St Johns Common, 95 London Road, Burgess Hill

 St Leonards Green, 45 Springfield Road, St Leonards

 St Leonards Road, 15 St Leonards Road, Horsham

 Station Road, 12-14 Station Road, Horsham

 The Broadway, 1/2 The Broadway, Eastbourne

 The Parade, 40 Broadwater Road, Worthing

 The Strand, The Strand, Worthing

 Tilling Green, Tilling Green News, 45 Lea Avenue, Rye

 Town Row, Yew Tree Lane - Town Row, Crowborough

 Trafalgar Street, 8 Trafalgar Street, Brighton

 Upper Dicker, Coldharbour Road, Upper Dicker, Hailsham

 Wannock, 41 Farmlands Way, Polegate

 Warnham, 3 Church Street, Warnham, near Horsham

 Washington, The Frankland Arms, London Road, near Storrington

 West Beach, 132 Beach Green, Shoreham-By-Sea

 White Rock, 32-33 White Rock, Hastings

 Willingdon, 116 Wish Hill, Willingdon, Eastbourne


deserted Royal Mail warehouse

Published 12th November 2007

Courtesy of The Campaign for an Independant Britain

EU MEDDLING IS DESTROYING THE ROYAL MAIL

Have you ever wondered why so many local post offices are closing down in your area and across the country and why, having for decades made useful profits, the Royal Mail has recently failed to meet its targets? Inevitably, it can be traced back to the European Union (EU) and its Postal Services Directive 97/671EC. This directive was amended in May 2002 and introduced new rules designed to force at least 25 per cent of the European postal services market to open up to competition by 2006.
The deal was rubber-stamped by the European Parliament in March 2002 and national monopolies over the delivery of letters weighing more than 100 grams were phased out in 2003, the threshold to be reduced to just 50 grams in 2006. Commenting on the deal, the then Internal Market Commissioner Fritz Bolkestein said: “Implementing the internal market for postal services is one of the major structural reforms that Europe needs”.
This means that finance ministers from other European countries and unelected European Commissioners are laying down the rules on how we should run the postal service in Britain. Their interference has turned the Royal Mail, formerly one of the most successful and envied postal services in the world, into the shambles it is today, puffing thousands of British jobs at risk in the process.

WANT TO PAY VAT ON YOUR POST?

As if things weren’t difficult enough for the Royal Mail, the EU has since introduced proposals to remove the VAT exemption for postal services, which has been in place since the 6th VAT Directive in was adopted in 1977. Traditionally, this sector has been dominated by state owned monopolies, so it made sense for it to be VAT exempt. However, the European Commission is now arguing that this has resulted in an uneven playing field because privately owned companies, who are trying to compete with the state owned monopolies, do not have the exemption. The problem is that removing the exemption would not improve the service for customers and would make it much more expensive. Royal Mail will almost certainly not be able to compete.
The Commission wants VAT to be charged at the standard rate for all mail over 2 kg in weight, while giving the member states the option of applying a reduced rate for items under 2 kg

Oppose EU Interference - Fight for your Post Office!

EU PLANS FOR THE ROYAL MAIL MEAN:

NO single company will provide the full service
Companies will cherry pick the most profitable areas of the Royal Mail service
Unprofitable rural areas will either lose their service or have to pay a great deal more for it
There will no longer be an obligation to provide single prices for postal services Prices will soar

Service companies like DHL or FedEx have been demanding to be allowed to compete for much of Royal Mail’s business. They will obviously be most interested in the more lucrative parts of the business. Public opinion polls have constantly shown that the overwhelming majority of the British people do not support these changes to the Royal Mail and most do not even know that Brussels is involved!

A RECIPE FOR CHAOS
The chaos that would inevitably follow the EU’s plans would be enormously damaging to our country. There would be further mass closures of post offices in addition to those that have already taken place. Wholesale redundancies would ensue and an inferior service would be provided. The human and social consequences would be considerable, particularly for elderly people without transport and no longer able to go to a local post office to draw their pension.

To protect postal services and put an end to interference from Brussels — the UK must withdraw from the EU

First Draft

The Post Office Problems - The True Cause of the Deliberate Destruction of Our Local Postal Infrastructure

Our precious Royal Mail is under sustained attack. Make no mistake. In recent years it has had its problems, but now the situation is serious.

About a year ago Postcomm (The Postal Services Commission) took over the overall regulation of our postal services. (Check out http://www.psc.gov.uk/royal-mail-standards-and-prices.html.) This is when things got really bad. Although the Post Office was already under attack from severe competition from European companies in Holland, France and Germany, the PO was restricted by edict in her ability to provide competitive pricing for a number of reasons, including the imposed operating guidelines.

Some information from the Postcomm website:

"The Royal Mail said the current regulatory framework is no longer fit for purpose and is subjecting the company to serious financial pressure. It said Postcomm should allow Royal Mail to compete in the business market without any restrictions and limit regulatory interventions to stamped mail. "

"The Royal Mail’s competitors pointed out that Royal Mail, which is focusing hard on retaining every item of mail, enjoys the advantages of economies of scale and the unique privilege of VAT exemption. They questioned whether our current regulatory tools are sufficient to deal with Royal Mail’s market dominance."

"Postcomm’s main conclusions in the emerging themes document, on which we are seeking feedback, are:

Customers are benefiting from competition. However, Royal Mail is finding the impact of competition and of new media very difficult to cope with, in part because of its slow progress in improving efficiency and in developing new services. The universal service (USO) remains profitable and is being provided to a very high quality of service.

More innovation is needed in order to exploit the changing mail market. Mail operators in the UK are not fully grasping the opportunities - or facing up to the challenges - of new communications media to the extent that some of their European and North American counterparts are. Mail has some important characteristics, such as personalisation and hand delivery, which valuably differentiate it in a digital world. If operators focus on how their mail products can add value for users, there is no reason to accept the prospect of a contracting mail market.

Postcomm reaffirms its aim to move to less detailed regulation. If Royal Mail can improve its cost transparency and respond better to the changing market, Postcomm should be able to scale back the regulatory regime from 2010 onwards. {By which time, we probably won’t have a Royal Mail, or they bail out just before the RM dies so that they can claim “Not our fault Guv!”}

The universal service will be secured in a changing mail market. Postcomm is responding to Royal Mail’s request to remove business products from the universal service and, in doing so, it wants to promote a wider debate as to how the scope and specification of the USO should adapt to changing social, economic and technological conditions. However, the basic right to post a stamped letter anywhere in the UK for the same price will remain at the centre of the universal service."

Since the unwelcome arrival of Postcomm and their EU-inspired micro-management style, they have sold off post offices, which are now rented back on about fifteen year leases. This surely indicates an uncertain or even bleak future for our traditional postal services. No serious Post Office administrator is going to sell off the very premises that they operate from, and then lease them back from some landlord.

Furthermore, there has been a sustained dismantling of the services provided, making it increasingly difficult for the PO to make a profit. I understand, for example that the second class mail actually runs at a loss. Furthermore, I learnt only this morning that you can no longer purchase your TV license at a post office. These are now to be bought at our local convenience store, or over the Internet. This is madness! Add to this growing list; pension payments; vehicle licensing, (although possible at post offices is now handled over the internet too); etc. Meanwhile, competitors such as Netherlands-based TNT have been permitted to “cherry pick” the most profitable accounts, such Lloyds TSB, Yell, etc. leaving the PO to handle the least rewarding mail traffic. This situation is unsustainable. Start checking your mail carefully to see who franked it. You’ll be horrified.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to make ends meet, the PO management has been forced to close small unprofitable post offices (due to an EU directive on funding-no surprise there!), reduce mail deliveries to one per day, and deliver domestic mail later. The PO employees have also seen their pensions hit, and reportedly money from this source is currently being used to settle the latest dispute, or robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Sunday collections have ceased our in area, with consequent delays to mail. Post Office vehicles have been fitted with speed restrictors limiting their max speed to 54mph in line with EU legislation resulting in late delivery of mail to post offices. Consequently sorting staff must start work an hour or so later, and so it goes on…

The cursed EU and its various quangoes is damaging Britain every single day!

I have more research work into the plight of our postal service, but one question that comes to mind is who appointed Postcomm in the first place, when Parliament saw fit to pass The Postal Service Act 2000?

If anyone has anything to contribute, I should be grateful of their contribution.