House of Commons Library
A debate on the effect of post office closures on local communities was scheduled for Tuesday 19 October 2021 in Westminster Hall. You can read the report here.
IPSOS MORI Report for the National Audit Office
Conclusion:
More profoundly impacted by the closures have been the shops that formally hosted the Post Offices and the local businesses that have remained. All have suffered from a reduction in customer numbers, as those that had been previously drawn to the area by the Post Offices, no longer come to use their businesses. Despite wider economic circumstances, such as the looming recession, these businesses identify the Post Office closure as the major factor in their current financial difficulties. Looking to the future, there is a real fear amongst rural communities that the Post Office closure programme could result in areas being left with no local facilities at all.
There is some concern in these communities that Outreach Services are simply part of a staggered closure programme that will at some point lead to a full removal of postal services. More widely, across both rural and urban areas, Post Office closures are seen as a contributing factor to a wider spiral of decline in which, as facilities disappear, less and less potential customers are drawn to an area, which in turn results in further closures for local businesses. There are of course wider contributory factors, such as increased shopping at supermarkets and out of town shopping and leisure facilities, which only add to small communities’ fears for the future survival of their local areas.
