Furore at axed bills contract

Feb 29 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

NORTHUMBRIAN Water was last night accused of jeopardising the future of the region’s post offices, after it axed the contract for bill payment at branches.

The supplier yesterday confirmed that customers will no longer be able to pay water bills at post offices as of April.

People can continue to pay free of charge at PayPoint outlets, which Northumbrian Water claims charges it nearly half the price levied by the Post Office, or by posting cheques or direct debit.

But the announcement comes at a time when the Post Office has been stripped of other services and branches have been warned that up to 2,500 could be axed as part of a Government review.

And Coun Geoff O’Connell last night warned that post offices in the region would close as a direct result of Northumbrian Water’s decision.

The independent member for Belford on Berwick Borough Council said: “It is as if there is a war of attrition being waged against our post office network. Pension and family allowance payment facilities were changed, TV licence renewals have been removed from post offices, BT no longer provides information that telephone bills can be paid there and the DVLA does not point out that you can renew your car tax disc at your local post office – they steer you towards Crown Post Offices or urge you to renew online. “Local post offices provide a vital service to village communities, often also serving as a village shop and with incomes continuing to shrink like this it is making their futures look less than rosy. It’s outrageous.

“With developments like this latest announcement from Northumbrian Water they won’t need to close branches down – they’ll just wither and die. If customers were able to switch their water supplier in the same way that you can with gas and electricity supplies I’m sure that many of Northumbrian Water’s customers would vote with their feet in response to this latest threat to the viability of our wonderful post office network.” The National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) has also expressed fears for the future of North East branches.

Its assistant general secretary Marilyn Stoddart said: “The NFSP is most concerned and disappointed at this news and we are currently investigating the situation with Post Office Limited.

“The NFSP believes that the post office ought to be the ideal place for customers to pay all bills and carry out a range of postal banking and other transactions.”

A spokesman for Northumbrian Water said: “The decision to stop providing the post office service was based on improved customer service and cost saving benefits.

“The alternative PayPoint service is available at a wider and increasing number of outlets with extended opening hours and supplier fees are nearly half those charged by the Post Office.”