JULIA WELCOMES POST OFFICE CARD ACCOUNT REPREIVE

4.00.00pm GMT Thu 13th Nov 2008

Julia has welcomed an announcement by Ministers that the Post Office Card Account will remain with the Post Office. Julia said it was a tribute to local campaigners who had highlighted the importance of the Post Office to local communities over the past few months.

She said: "The campaign to save our Post Offices has demonstrated to Ministers how strongly people feel about them. My office has been flooded with thousands of letters opposing moves to take the POCA away from the Post Office.

"If the Post Office Card Account had gone, it would have meant dozens more closures across Cornwall, just at a time when people are reeling from the Government's last round of closures."

Julia added that the economic downturn also highlighted the urgent need to save our Post Offices.

She said: "In uncertain economic times, we need our Post Offices now more than ever. They provide vital local services on which people depend, and help to sustain the economy particularly in rural areas."

The Card Account contract is worth £1 billion over five years to local post offices. There had been fears the contract would be lost to private sector competition.

The loss of the Card Account contract could have resulted in the closure of a further 3000 Post Offices nationwide, alongside the 2500 closures that have already been imposed by the Government this year. Any closures would have included branches in the most rural parts of Cornwall.

The Post Office Card Account provides a vital service for 4.3 million people throughout the country. Thousands of people in rural Cornwall rely on the service at their local Post Office branch to collect pensions and benefits.