Further questions for Post Office on Camden Town closure scheme

Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore says that plans to relocate and privatise Camden Town Post Office are “ill- thought through”. Mr Dismore wrote to the Post Office in July asking why the decision had been taken, when he had received a written assurance in February that no plans to do exactly that existed. He also asked which services would be lost.

The response from the Post Office did not contain an answer about when their decision was made, and indicated that the services not available at the new franchised Post Office was a biometric ID system, which is being phased out by the Home Office, and that the presence of an ATM had not been finalised.

Mr Dismore said:

‘I knew in February that the opening of a new franchised Post office just doors away from the existing Crown Post Office was a harbinger for its demise, but even by the Post Office’s low standards of transparency, I did not expect it to happen within a few months. They are very coy about answering when they made this decision, and if it turns out they made it in February, then we know that their assurances are not worth the paper they are written on.’

‘I am also unhappy that they cannot confirm they will have an ATM. High streets need free cash withdrawal ATMs, they are a lifeline for small businesses, and this must be secured as soon as possible.’

ENDS

Notes:

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