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Huge disappointment has been expressed by Birmingham City Council's Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety, Councillor Ayoub Khan, following the announcement that 25 Birmingham Post Offices will now close. Post Office Ltd announced today that 50 branches will be closing in the Birmingham, Warwickshire and Coventry Area, with half of the closures taking place in Birmingham. Only the Post Office based at The Green, 65 The Green, in Kings Norton has been saved from closure. Councillor Khan said: "This is a huge blow to the city and a huge blow to both employees who are working in the branches and to those people who have relied upon the valuable services that the 25 closing Post Offices provide. "We are very disappointed that just one solitary Post Office from the original list has been saved, and we would now question how thoroughly Post Office Ltd went through all the consultation responses as it has been just over 3 weeks since the consultation ended. "Post Office Ltd's originally proposed to close 26 branches in the city. This means that a single branch has been saved following the detailed information provided by Birmingham residents and the Council during the consultation period. We would however like to thank the people who provided the 2,600 regional responses. "The Council provided a detailed report to both Post Office Ltd and Postwatch setting out reasons why each one of the Post offices should remain open. From the outset we have made it clear that we are against the closure of any Post Offices in the city as we believe they have an invaluable role to play in our city both commercially and socially. "We still see Post Offices as a vital part of our neighbourhoods and integral to creating vibrant urban villages, and we are deeply saddened by today's announcement." A City Council Working Group, set up to respond to the Network Change Programme, will continue to meet to look at ways of minimising the impact these closures will have on local people, in particular our most vulnerable residents who rely on the services provided by their local Post Office. |
