Birmingham City Council is making one final bid to halt post office closures in the city as the six-week consultation period comes to an end.
Under the proposals 26 post offices (18% of the city's network) would close.
Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety, Ayoub Khan, will this week put his name to a Birmingham City Council document, which contains further detailed evidence opposing any closures in the City, including the potential negative impact of closures at a city wide and local community level.
Khan stated: ‘Post Offices in Birmingham provide a range of valuable services both commercially and socially in our city, and act as a focal point for community interaction, especially those who have come to rely on them, which include many senior citizens and some of our more vulnerable residents.
‘There are already over 7,000 residents for each Post Office in the City, so reducing the network further will have a significant negative effect on both the accessibility and the quality of the service.
‘If these closures take place, there will be 8,700 people per Post Office, which is simply too many per branch.
Under the proposals 26 post offices (18% of the city's network) would close.
Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety, Ayoub Khan, will this week put his name to a Birmingham City Council document, which contains further detailed evidence opposing any closures in the City, including the potential negative impact of closures at a city wide and local community level.
Khan stated: ‘Post Offices in Birmingham provide a range of valuable services both commercially and socially in our city, and act as a focal point for community interaction, especially those who have come to rely on them, which include many senior citizens and some of our more vulnerable residents.
‘There are already over 7,000 residents for each Post Office in the City, so reducing the network further will have a significant negative effect on both the accessibility and the quality of the service.
‘If these closures take place, there will be 8,700 people per Post Office, which is simply too many per branch.
Four months prior to the closure proposals announcement a dedicated Birmingham City Council steering group provided both Post Office Ltd and Postwatch with a detailed report outlining regeneration, public transport and major investment plans throughout the City.
In addition demographic information on a city-wide and constituency basis and information on specific local issues that supported the need for post offices to remain open were also given to Post Office Ltd for their consideration.
This information has now been looked at in further detail and the Birmingham City Council response will be issued to Post Office Ltd and Postwatch before the August 4 consultation deadline.
