Greater Commercial Freedom For Post Office
The Government has announced a review of options to grant the Post Office greater commercial freedom.
The Trade and Industry Minister, Ian McCartney, said he wanted to ensure the Post Office became more competitive. He said the service had been "held back" from developing its full potential both at home and in international markets.
"The Post Office has been forced to stand by whilst foreign competitors, such as the Dutch Post Office, have had the freedom to forge ahead and position themselves to take advantage of the new opportunities," said Mr McCartney.
"For too long now the Post Office, which is one of this country's major success stories, and an essential part of its social and commercial infrastructure, has been held back from developing its full potential both domestically and in the increasingly globalised international postal market place," he said.
The minister launched an "immediate and comprehensive review" of all the options and will consult Post Office management, unions and consumer groups.
As part of the review, the Government has asked the Post Office to suspend the controversial programme of closing Crown Offices, usually situated in high streets, and replacing them with franchised offices.
The programme led to strikes by the Communication Workers' Union which complained that moving main offices, sometimes to out-of-town superstores, hit customers.
The Post Office has agreed to Mr McCartney's request. The minister said the programme had caused concern and he wanted it suspended until his review was completed.
Labour said in its manifesto that it wanted to give the Post Office greater commercial freedom to make the most of new opportunities.
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