Beith backs calls to save Post Office Card Account

10.45.00am GMT Tue 11th Nov 2008

Alan Beith MP has received hundreds of cards supporting the Post Office Card Account

Alan Beith MP has backed a House of Commons Motion to save the Post Office Card Account. In a House of Commons vote on the motion the Government's majority was slashed to just 38.

Sir Alan Beith MP said

"In the Berwick upon Tweed constituency around 6,200 people hold a Post Office Card Account and the uncertainty about its future, particularly at a time when people are feeling concerned about the banking system as a whole, is totally unsatisfactory. In a rural area such as ours, people rely more heavily on the Post office than in some urban areas, and I have received nearly 2000 post cards from concerned constituents who want to keep using the Post Office Card Account.

The Department of Work and Pensions has written to Post Office Card Account holders to tell them that the Post Office Card Account contract ends in 2010. The tender for the replacement service was invited at the start of 2008 and a decision on the tender has been expected for some months, but no announcement has been made.

Alan Beith added

"We believe this is a deliberate attempt to encourage people to switch payment to direct debit and remove the role of the Post Office. Further damage is being inflicted on the Post Office by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which is currently sending out licence renewal reminders for road tax which make no mention of the Post Office.

"We want to see Ministers in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform encouraging Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions to consider the impact on communities across the country if the Post Office card account is not renewed. We also want all Government departments to make their services available through post offices in order to ensure that they have a viable future."