Post Office boosts postmaster pay by £250m
The Post Office said it wants to boost postmasters’ pay by £250m a year as part of a plan to transform the the troubled company as it seeks to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongfully convicted.
Postmasters could expect up to £120m in additional remuneration by the end of the first year of the 5-year Plan, which is subject to approval and government funding. The increase amounts to a 30 per cent increase in revenue shared with the men and woman who operate more than 9,000 post offices.
To help finance the deal more than 100 Post Office branches and some 1,000 jobs are at risk as part of a major overhaul. It said it is seeking to jettison 115 directly-owned branches within its 11,500 network, which could see them transferred to retail partners or postmasters, or closed.
It is also proposing to cut up to 1,000 further jobs, many of them head office roles, as part of the measures to secure its financial stability in the wake of the Horizon computer scandal.
The company said that cost savings would be redirected towards increasing postmasters’ pay and investing in the business. It wants greater automation of cash and mails services within branches in a bid to reduce manual tasks and free up Postmasters’ time to serve customers.
The measures are part of a strategic review that Nigel Railton, the chair of the Post Office, began in May. The review is understood to propose greater rewards for the sub-postmasters and mistresses who operate 9,000 post office branches independently.
Railton, told staff: “The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters. We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal.
“The value postmasters deliver in their communities must be reflected in their pockets, and this Transformation Plan provides a route to adding more than £250m annually to total postmaster remuneration by 2030, subject to government funding.
“It begins a new phase of partnership during which we will strengthen the postmaster voice in the day-to-day running and operations of the business, so they are represented from the frontline to the boardroom.”
Unions attacked the move as ‘immoral’ and said it amounted to adding their members to the list of victims of the Horizon scandal.
Communication Workers Union General Secretary Dave Ward said: “The Post Office is a key part of the national infrastructure. It keeps communities connected, is a lifelong to the elderly as well as the most vulnerable in society, and should be the shop front for so many government services.
“For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral. CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal – and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack.
He said the Post Office had embarked on its own review of the business “while we are in the middle of a government review of the Post Office’s future.” “It seems the Post Office has learned no lessons from its chaotic and uncoordinated mistakes of the past.
Ministers needed to urgently intervene “over this shambolic decision”, he said. “Labour has to ensure it does not become the government that targeted elderly people with the removal of the winter fuel allowance and then saw crucial services they rely on removed.”
The threat to major post office branches comes at a time when many are growing busier as local residents use them increasingly for essential services including banking and other forms of funding, such as a pension or benefits.
Which Post Offices are at risk?
- Bangor
- Belfast City
- Edinburgh City
- Glasgow
- Haddington
- Inverness
- Kirkwall
- Londonderry
- Newtownards
- Saltcoats
- Springburn Way
- Stornoway
- Wester Hailes
- Barnes Green
- Bransholme
- Bridlington
- Chester Le Street
- Crossgates
- Eccles
- Furness House
- Grimsby
- Hyde
- Kendal
- Manchester
- Morecambe
- Morley
- Poulton Le Fylde
- Prestwich
- Rotherham
- Salford City
- Sheffield City
- South Shields
- St Johns
- Sunderland City
- The Markets
- Birmingham
- Breck Road
- Caernarfon
- Didsbury Village
- Harlesden
- Kettering
- Kingsbury
- Leigh
- Leighton Buzzard
- Matlock
- Milton Keynes
- Northolt
- Old Swan
- Oswestry
- Oxford
- Redditch
- Southall
- St Peters Street
- Stamford
- Stockport
- Wealdstone
- Barnet
- Cambridge City
- Canning Town
- Cricklewood
- Dereham
- Golders Green
- Hampstead
- Harold Hill
- Kilburn
- Kingsland High Street
- Lower Edmonton
- Roman Road
- South Ockendon
- Stamford Hill
- Bideford
- Dunraven Place
- Gloucester
- Liskeard
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Mutley
- Nailsea
- Newquay
- Paignton
- Port Talbot
- Stroud
- Teignmouth
- Yate Sodbury
- Baker Street
- Bexhill On Sea
- Cosham
- Great Portland Street
- High Street (10)
- Kensington
- Knightsbridge
- Melville Road
- Paddington Quay
- Portsmouth
- Raynes Park
- Romsey
- Westbourne
- Windsor
- Worlds End
- Aldwych
- Brixton
- Broadway
- City of London
- East Dulwich
- Eccleston Street
- High Holborn
- Houndsditch
- Islington
- Kennington Park
- London Bridge
- Lupus Street
- Mount Pleasant
- Vauxhall Bridge Road
