Post Office Services — Welcomes £2 billion investment — 24 Mar 2004 at 16:15

The majority of MPs voted for the motion:^[1]

• This House
• supports the Government's strategy to modernise the way benefits and pensions are paid, and to provide customers with a choice of accounts;
• welcomes the fact that with Direct Payment customers will still be able to collect their cash from the Post Office if they wish using a current account or basic bank account with Post Office access or the Post Office Card Account;
• notes the Government's plans for a cheque payment, cashable at post offices, for people who cannot be paid through an account;
• recognises that Direct Payment is a more modern, efficient and secure method of payment which will also help increase financial inclusion;
• welcomes the fact that more customers are now paid through an account than by order book without problems, including nearly six million pensioners;
• notes the previous government's attempt to introduce a Benefit Payment Card, which wasted millions of pounds of tax-payers' money;
• notes the fact that the Post Office had not until recently kept up with changes in customer demand and so had seen transaction volumes dropping and losses increasing;
• recognises the need for change and congratulates the Government for taking decisive action to help turn the business around;
• welcomes the record £2 billion investment in the Post Office network over a five-year period, including £450 million for the rural network and £210 million to modernise the urban network; and
• believes that this will help ensure a viable Post Office network that people will want to use.

This motion was preceded by an earlier motion critical of the Government that was voted down by a majority of MPs.^[2]

• [1] Patricia Hewitt MP, House of Commons, 24 March 2004
• [2] Post Office Services - Calls for systematic consultation before closure - rejected, House of Commons, 24 March 2004

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |