A Conservative peer who campaigned over the Post Office Horizon scandal has called for an expansion of branches, even as the organisation consults on widespread branch closures affecting 1,000 jobs.
Lord Arbuthnot made his remarks during a House of Lords debate on Monday, as the Post Office considers shutting 115 directly managed branches within its 11,500-strong network.
The proposed closures come as part of a broader restructuring aimed at boosting postmaster pay by £250million over five years. The peer, who entered the House of Lords earlier this year, argued that rather than reducing locations, the Post Office should be expanding its presence across communities.
Lord Arbuthnot outlined his vision for Post Office branches as vital community hubs across the nation.
“I believe in the Post Office. And I think that the future of the Post Office is as a network of essential hubs, spread throughout the country, holding communities together,” he told peers.
He emphasised the branches’ potential to offer banking services, social meeting spaces, and interactions with Government agencies.
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A Tory peer is fighting back against the pending Post Office branch closures
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The Tory peer suggested these locations could even provide healthcare services, building up the country’s resilience. “If that is right, should we not be expanding the network rather than reducing it?” he questioned during the debate.
His comments directly challenge the Post Office’s current consultation on branch closures, advocating instead for a broader service offering and expanded presence in communities.
Labour business minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch responded by emphasising that the proposed closures were not yet finalised. She told peers that alternative funding options were being explored to maintain branch operations.
“We are trying to find a way to keep these Post Offices open in whatever way that we can, whether it is providing different services or under different management,” she said.
The minister praised Lord Arbuthnot’s long-standing work on Post Office issues, acknowledging his unique understanding of the challenges. She agreed with his vision, stating: “There is potentially a rosy future for the Post Office in exactly the way he described as a network of basic service provision hubs.”
Baroness Jones highlighted the Post Office’s potential role in supporting digitally excluded individuals. “The Post Office will have a role to provide for those people who are digitally excluded in some way, so that they will have that point of contact,” she explained.
Lord Arbuthnot’s involvement in the Post Office scandal began in 2009 when former subpostmaster Jo Hamilton approached him while he was MP for North East Hampshire. Hamilton had been wrongly convicted of false accounting and forced to pay £36,000 to the Post Office due to errors in Fujitsu’s Horizon software.
The peer went on to support other subpostmasters who had been wrongly convicted and met with Post Office executives including former chief executive Paula Vennells, who later returned her CBE.
Speaking to the Post Office inquiry, Lord Arbuthnot described it as “the greatest scandal I have ever seen in the criminal justice process.” More than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 due to the Post Office’s defective accounting system.
His advocacy helped draw attention to the widespread miscarriage of justice affecting hundreds of subpostmasters across the country. The Post Office has identified 115 branches across the UK for potential closure.
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