Over 100 Post Office branches and 1,000 jobs at risk under sweeping overhaul, as union slams 'cruel' changes
by Kit Heren · LBCBy Kit Heren
Over 100 Post Office branches are at risk under a shake-up announced on Wednesday, along with around 1,000 jobs.
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The Post Office said it was looking to hand over 115 of its directly-owned branches to retailers or postmasters.
That means more existing branches could be operated by shops or independently in future - or they could close.
Some 1,000 staff members work across the 115 branches, so they could lose their jobs if they shut their doors. Hundreds more roles are also under threat at Post Office headquarters.
Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the corporate overhaul will also offer a "new deal for postmasters" by increasing their share of revenue and giving them more say in how the business operates.
Read more: Post Office chief Nick Read resigns ahead of Horizon inquiry conclusion
Read more: Post Office chief Nick Read resigns ahead of Horizon inquiry conclusion
The Post Office is seeking to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that made headlines for weeks earlier this year. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted because of an IT glitch over several years.
Mr Railton made the announcement at the company's headquarters in London on Wednesday in a speech to postmasters across the country, as well as retail partners and Post Office staff.
He said: "The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters.
"We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal."
He added the overhaul also "begins a new phase of partnership during which we will strengthen the postmaster voice in the day-to-day running and operations of the business, so they are represented from the frontline to the boardroom".
It follows a strategic review launched by Mr Railton in May, but is reliant on funding talks with government, which the Post Office said were "positive and ongoing".
The government is also said to have been consulted on the possibility of handing ownership of the network to thousands of subpostmasters across the country.
The 115 branches put at risk are are Crown Post Offices located in city centres and staffed by Post Office employees.
They are the only remaining branches directly owned by the Post Office, down from close to 400 in 2010.
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A spokesman for the Post Office said: "The plan intends to create a new operating model for the business that means ensuring the Post Office has the right organisational design."
But the Communication Workers Union (CWU) union called on the Post Office to halt the plans and for the Government to intervene.
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: "For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral.
"CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal - and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack."
But the Post Office insisted that aims are to franchise the branches or transfer ownership to other parties, such as its network of retail partners.
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Retailers such as WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op operate around 2,000 Post Offices across the country.
The rest of the network - about 9,000 Post Offices - are operated by independent postmasters.
As part of the transformation, the Post Office is also setting up a new postmaster panel to increase support and training, as well as a consultative council "to ensure postmasters' interests remain front and centre".
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "Post Offices are an integral part of the communities they serve and the services they provide for local people.
"The Government is in active discussion with Nigel Railton on his plans to put postmasters at the centre of the organisation and strengthen the Post Office network for its long-term future."
A public inquiry remains ongoing into the Horizon IT scandal, which involved hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of stealing after the company's defective accounting system made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.
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The full list of Post Office branches under threat is as follows:
Bangor
Belfast City
Edinburgh City
Glasgow
Haddington
Inverness
Kirkwall
Londonderry
Newtownards
Saltcoats
Springburn Way
Stornoway
Wester Hailes
Barnes Green
Bransholme
Bridlington
Chester Le Street
Crossgates
Eccles
Furness House
Grimsby
Hyde
Kendal
Manchester
Morecambe
Morley
Poulton Le Fylde
Prestwich
Rotherham
Salford City
Sheffield City
South Shields
St Johns
Sunderland City
The Markets
Birmingham
Breck Road
Caernarfon
Didsbury Village
Harlesden
Kettering
Kingsbury
Leigh
Leighton Buzzard
Matlock
Milton Keynes
Northolt
Old Swan
Oswestry
Oxford
Redditch
Southall
St Peters Street
Stamford
Stockport
Wealdstone
Barnet
Cambridge City
Canning Town
Cricklewood
Dereham
Golders Green
Hampstead
Harold Hill
Kilburn
Kingsland High Street
Lower Edmonton
Roman Road
South Ockendon
Stamford Hill
Bideford
Dunraven Place
Gloucester
Liskeard
Merthyr Tydfil
Mutley
Nailsea
Newquay
Paignton
Port Talbot
Stroud
Teignmouth
Yate Sodbury
Baker Street
Bexhill On Sea
Cosham
Great Portland Street
High Street (10)
Kensington
Knightsbridge
Melville Road
Paddington Quay
Portsmouth
Raynes Park
Romsey
Westbourne
Windsor
Worlds End
Aldwych
Brixton
Broadway
City of London
East Dulwich
Eccleston Street
High Holborn
Houndsditch
Islington
Kennington Park
London Bridge
Lupus Street
Mount Pleasant
Vauxhall Bridge Road