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It’s time for a People’s Bank run through our post offices
Communication Workers Union general secretary Billy Hayes argues it is well within the government’s power to answer the demand for secure banking
THE government should establish a Post Office-based secure banking system for all citizens.
The move would be popular at a time when there is universal concern over the security of savings.
Testimony to the public demand for “a safe bank” can be seen with the flow of deposits into the Post Office and National Savings.
And it’s not as if the principle of a publicly owned bank has not succeeded before.
Some 40 years ago, the popular Girobank was established by a Labour government before being sold off to Alliance and Leicester which has now been taken over by Spanish banking giant Santander.
According to the Community Banking Partnership, Britain has 180 banking branches per one million inhabitants.
This compares to 435 in France, 540 in Germany and 940 in Spain.
Retrenchment by the private sector banks will see this access retract further. In addition there are two million adults in the country without a bank account.
The establishment of a government-owned banking service run through the post office network could prove the perfect vehicle for providing secure banking for all citizens.
An important building block on the way to establishing this vision will be the securing of the renewal of the Post Office Card Account (POCA) with Post Office Limited (POL).
The POCA is used by some of the most financially vulnerable in society and provides crucial income and stability to the post office network.
Currently out to tender, this core service cannot be allowed to fall into private hands regardless of how “competitive” the tender may be.
The Communication Workers Union has written to James Purnell, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, urging him to end the uncertainty of POCA’s future.
If the POL does not win this vital contract then there will be thousands of further closures across the country.
This is a scenario that neither communities nor the government can afford.
Now is the time to seize the opportunity and build on the financially secure infrastructure that already exists not cut it further.
A vibrant post office network must be fully integrated with a modern state-owned mail industry.
The CWU opposes any break-up of Royal Mail and its subsidiary POL and want to see investment ploughed into these key institutions.
There is a fundamental interdependence between Royal Mail and the Post Office which governs each of their success.
Royal Mail needs the post office network to meet its universal service obligation and POL remains dependent on the provision of Royal Mail products for a large proportion of its income.
Richard Hooper’s report on the United Kingdom postal services sector is soon to be published.
With the decision on the future of the post office card account and publication of the Hooper report due imminently, the mail industry faces many uncertainties.
It is well within the government’s power to answer the demand for secure banking, not just through bank bail-outs, but taking the opportunity to use the Post Office to its full potential and backing a People’s Bank.
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