Isles representatives secure apology for confusion over Kirkwall Post Office future
Northern Isles representatives Alistair Carmichael MP and Liam McArthur MSP have received an apology for islanders from Post Office representatives following a meeting on the future of the Kirkwall Post Office. During the meeting the Post Office apologised for confusing information released on 13th November, which suggested that Kirkwall Post Office was to be closed, before later clarification by the government that no such decision had been made.
The future of individual Crown Post Offices, including Kirkwall, remains under review, with retention of directly-owned branches and franchising to sub-postmasters under consideration in the coming months. Mr Carmichael and Mr McArthur voiced concern that islanders are not currently planned to be consulted by the Post Office until after a proposal is agreed internally, and requested further information from the Post Office.
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael said:
“The meeting with the Post Office was useful even if it raised as many questions as it answered. Above all it remains unclear why the Post Office is not engaging with the community right away on what we want to see happen with the Kirkwall Crown Post Office.
“Any meaningful consultation – rather than a rubber stamp process – should start as soon as possible, and we are going to pull every lever we have to make that happen.
“I am glad, at least, that Post Office representatives were willing to apologise for the confusion created by reports of a planned branch closure in Kirkwall, which left a lot of people feeling unsettled and upset. Even so they are going to have to do a lot better in future to repair trust with the community. This is a publicly-owned organisation so it must be accountable to the public – and that includes our community just as much as anywhere else.”
Orkney MSP, Liam McArthur said:
“The Kirkwall Post Office is an important and valued community hub, particularly at this time of year. Whatever the long-term plan here it cannot involve services being cut back. While the Post Office have been at pains to reiterate that no decisions have been made on the future of the branch they would be wise to start engaging with customers and staff locally as soon as possible.
“We are going to keep pushing Post Office leadership to get more information about the process that is going on, and to ensure that people get to have a proper say on the future of our local branch. That is the least we should be able to expect.”