Additional services for post offices?

[Nwicker60]

MSPs urged to look at new services for post offices

A MOVE has been made by a consumer group which could result in post offices in Caithness and elsewhere expanding their services.
At the moment, customers can access a range of services, such as paying their council tax, renewing travel passes and arranging meals on wheels.
A recently-published report by Consumer Focus Scotland suggests that local authorities could take advantage of more than 1,400 post office branches to expand what they have on offer and it has appealed to the government to carry out to carry out an investigation The report highlights the fact that older, poorer, and more vulnerable customers, who regularly use post offices and do not have access to the internet, have most to gain.
Services available in other countries, for example, include child car payments, in Australia, applications for disabled parking permits in Italy and pre-paid city and airport parking in Ireland. In Switzerland, post offices act as a hub for local government information, notices and newsletters.
Fife police recently started an initiative at seven post offices where people can report minor crimes submit driving documents and hand in lost property.
Consumer Focus Scotland’s postal services policy manager, Annie McGovern, said that offering more council services at post office counters, could bridge the digital divide and help preserve what she described as “these vital community assets.”
Age Scotland parliamentary officer, Callum Chomezuk, said research showed post offices were valued for their security and privacy, particularly by those on low incomes. Her organisation believed that having additional public services available at post offices, could not only improve the long term future of the network, but could also support vulnerable consumers such as older people who use these depots on a regular basis.
Consumer Focus Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to set up a group to identify what could be offered in order to provide another approach.