Post Office Card Account saved

In this column just two weeks ago, I warned thousands more post offices across Britain could be in danger - if the Government awarded a contract for paying pensions and benefits to a private company, and not to Post Office Limited.

Such a decision would have slashed the income of every post office, forcing thousands to close, on top of all the past closures we’ve suffered.

However, the good news is, these post offices have all been saved. The Government has backed down – the Post Office Card Account will stay with the Post Office. We have won a historic campaign victory.

You may have missed this “national” news, given the coverage of the recession and John Sergeant and Strictly Come Dancing!

Yet as many people have written to me concerned about their Post Office Card Account (POCA) and the impact on the viability of their post office – let me explain what happened.

On November 10th, the Liberal Democrats called a debate in Parliament, to demand the Government’s latest attack on Britain’s post offices should not happen.

On November 13th, to everyone’s astonishment, the Government responded.

However, they did not announce which firm had won the contract.

Instead, right at the last minute, after a long tendering competition, they decided to cancel the tender itself – and keep the existing contract with Post Office Limited till 2015.

While this means millions were wasted in the tender, and this will be revisited in 6 years’ time, at least this time, for now, this post office campaign has been won.