GOVERNMENT U-TURN ON POST OFFICE CARD ACCOUNT A WELCOME MOVE - WILLIAMS

9.27.18am GMT Fri 14th Nov 2008

Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, has welcomed the announcement, made in an Oral Statement to the House by James Purnell MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, that the Post Office Card Account (POCA) will remain with the post office until 2015.

Mr Williams said:

"This announcement will be a major relief to many post offices that have seen the services that they are able to offer being taken on by other organisations.

"Had this decision not been made it could have resulted in the death of many more rural post offices, which would have been devastating so soon after the recent round of post office closures.

"The Liberal Democrats have long been saying that the Post Office Card Account should never have been put out to tender and it is good to see that the Government has also now reached this conclusion.

"It is important that the Government now make it easier for people to apply for and obtain a Post Office Card Account in order to further support the Post Office network.

"I raised this issue in the Commons with the Secretary of State and hope that he will take my suggestion on board."

NOTES:

Delays:

In a written ministerial statement in May 2007, James Plaskitt, Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions stated that the contract was expected to be awarded and signed early in 2008.

This decision is 11 months overdue and the POCA successor re-tendering process has been going on for nearly three years.

The exchange between Roger Williams and James Purnell was as follows:

Mr. Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD): I welcome the Secretary of State's commitment to supporting POCA in the future, but one criticism of the scheme is that it is very difficult to open an account. Can the right hon. Gentleman give us a commitment that in future the POCA will be the easiest option rather than the last resort? If he can, there may be substance to his announcement today.

James Purnell: The hon. Gentleman is right that we need to make opening an account as easy as possible. It is already easier than opening a bank account, but the new contract will make it even easier. Both the Post Office and the Government are committed to that, and will work together on it over the next few weeks and months.

The full debate can be found at: http://pubs1.tso.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/06.htm