Listening to the public on post office closures

Written by Sarah Teather MP and published in North West London Newspapers Times/Chronicle Series on Wed 15th Oct 2003

Sarah Teather MP and Charles Kennedy campaigning to save local post offices

I must start this column by saying thank you to the people of Brent East. It is a huge honour to be elected to be the local MP. Since the election 3 weeks ago I have been inundated by messages of support and congratulations and have received many cards and flowers. Thank you to all of you for your great kindness. I am very aware of the huge job that is now to be done and I promise to represent all to the best of my ability.

One of the themes that emerged during the by-election campaign was about the need for politicians at all levels to listen more to people. But not just to listen - to act on what people say.

Let me give an example. I have been thoroughly angered recently by the Post Office's decision to close yet another local post office in Brent - Brondesbury Post Office, a Crown Post Office on the Kilburn High Road. Only a few months ago, the small post office on Gladstone Parade was closed and there are rumours of others also under threat.

The post office provides an invaluable community service and its importance to local residents cannot be over estimated. Post offices are vital for those who need to collect benefits and pensions and I fear that these closures do great damage to those most vulnerable in our society. But they are also important for the vitality of the high street. When we lose the post office in one area, shoppers who would previously have collected their benefit and then bought at shops nearby, find they must get on the bus or tube to collect their money and local businesses suffer as a result. This aspect remains a great concern to me about the closure of the Gladstone Parade post office, situated as it was in a relatively rundown area on the Edgware Road.

In exasperation at the Post Office's previous sham consultations, one of my first acts as the new MP was to write to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, demanding that she overturn the decision of the Post Office to close the Brondesbury post office. So far, however, the Government's commitment to closing post offices appears to be unshakable.

Many local residents fought alongside me to preserve the future of the post office and it is frustrating to learn that their voices have been ignored. Indeed it makes a mockery of the word 'consultation'. I fail to see the point of inviting local people to give their views on the importance of a service if they are then overruled without any explanation or justification.

As Brent East's MP I have vowed to listen to as many people as possible. If you have issues you would like me to raise on your behalf, or would like to make an appointment to speak to me, please write to me at Sarah Teather MP, House of Commons SW1A 0AA, or email teathers@parliament.uk or phone my office at 020 7219 2284.