MP calls for clarity about village post office

Boxford sub-postmaster Richard Haining fears cuts to funding and opening hours

An MP has called for clarity over the future of a "vital" village post office amid fears of cuts to funding and opening hours.

James Cartlidge, South Suffolk MP, has written to Nick Read, chief executive of Post Office Ltd, asking about a branch in Swan Street, Boxford.

In a video uploaded to Mr Cartlidge’s Facebook page last week, sub-postmaster Richard Haining claimed the company had told him the Post Office’s exceptional subsidy would be halved in January — a decrease from £2,700 to £1,350 per month.

A Post Office spokesperson said it was "not planning any changes until a strategic review" took place in autumn.

Currently 130 branches, out of 11,500, receive the subsidy payments to support their viability

Mr Haining said on top of this, the hours at the branch would be reduced from 50 to 30 a week, which he described as "not feasible".

He said: “The village here needs its post office, all the local businesses here, all the local customers, all rely on me.

“I love this village, I want to stay here working.”

The announcement followed a Post Office review, which concluded the company needed to "re-align" resources and make changes to how the subsidy was allocated.

Currently, 130 branches, out of 11,500, receive the subsidy payments to support their viability.

Mr Cartlidge pledged to do everything he could to support Mr Haining and Boxford Post Office by writing to the company and the minister, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

In his letter addressed to the company’s chief executive, Mr Cartlidge said: “Post Office branches provide many essential services to communities — from banking facilities to renewing vehicle tax — which are particularly valuable in rural areas such as South Suffolk where constituents can face challenges accessing bigger towns.

“As such, I should be grateful if you could please clarify the position of the Post Office regarding exceptional payments and, most importantly, outline your contingency plans to mitigate the detrimental impact that the loss of services will have on rural communities in South Suffolk.”

Addressing the letter, a Post Office spokesperson said: “Post Office regularly reviews provision across the network to ensure it is using its limited resources to continue to provide a stable network of Post Offices for communities throughout the UK.

“But we are not planning any changes until a strategic review into the Post Office is completed later this autumn.

“We have written to Mr Haining to confirm there will be no changes to their exceptional payments while this strategic review is underway.

“We’re grateful for our postmaster’s dedication to his community and look forward to helping him and the village of Boxford celebrate 250 years of postal services later this month.”