Mon, 14 Jul 2025

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 Post Office could be owned by its postmasters, government says

The service could be turned into an employee-owned business, under options set out by the government.

* The government has launched a public consultation on the future of the Post Office, which could include handing ownership over to its postmasters.
* Minister Gareth Thomas says it's time for a "fresh vision" for the service and that the government doesn't plan to reduce the number of branches.
* Plans for mutualization have been discussed for over a decade but were put on hold due to the scandal surrounding faulty accounting software called Horizon.
* The government wants to transform the organization's culture after the scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft and false accounting.
* A 12-week consultation will explore options such as mutual ownership or a charter model like the BBC, but any change is unlikely until 2030 at the earliest.
* The Post Office operates over 11,500 locations around the country and relies on government subsidies to stay in operation.
* Customers can use the Post Office for various services, including banking, foreign currency exchange, and passport applications.
* Research suggests that the Post Office adds £5.2bn per year in "social value" to households and £1.3bn annually to small businesses.
* However, the business has struggled to make a profit due to declining letter volumes and increased competition from online services.
* The government says it doesn't plan to pursue ownership changes until the Post Office achieves financial stability.
* Two potential alternatives for longer-term change are shared-ownership or mutualization, which would give staff a greater stake in the performance of the business.
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