Labour Party News

Southampton MPs declare victory in post office card account battle

Over 11,000 Southampton residents can continue to access accounts at the Post Office

Southampton MPs Alan Whitehead and John Denham have welcomed today’s announcement that four million Post Office Card Account customers can keep using the post office to access their benefits and pensions, helping to keep post offices at the heart of the community.

The government has chosen to award the successor to the Post Office Card Account to the Post Office, rather than the private competitor, PayPoint. This announcement is fantastic news for the Post Office as the card account is an important source of income and brings customers through the doors of post offices across the country. Sub-postmasters had warned that up to 3,000 post offices would be forced to close if the Post Office fails to win the contract.

6,220 people in Southampton Itchen and 5,400 people in Southampton Test use the Post Office Card Account, a very straightforward account specifically designed to pay benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, Service Personnel and Veterans Agency and for tax credits. Many residents rely completely on their local post office to pick up their pensions, and would have found it difficult to access a bank, if the card account had been taken away from the Post Office.

Dr Whitehead said:

“I know how strongly people in Southampton feel about their local Post Office, and lobbied strongly against local branch closures when they were demonstrably not justified by the Post Office’s own criteria for closing a branch. The decision to award the Post Office Card Account back to the Post Office will help to ensure that the local Post Office is fully utilised by residents, provides a lifeline for elderly people who rely on them for easy access to their pensions and maintains an integral part of the local community.”

John Denham added:

“The government has already committed £1.7 billion up to 2011 to help keep post offices open, and I am delighted that they have taken another huge step to shore up the viability of local post offices.”

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