Kirsty Williams AM

AM slams Post Office £42,000 jolly as axe falls on rural services

Post office bosses have sparked outrage after it emerged that they have invited select AMs to join them at a bank busting corporate box at Chepstow Races Ladies Evening - at a time when the company are in the process of closing post offices across the country.

With corporate boxes costing £42,000 for a fixed three year package the jolly is set to be a pricey night out for Royal Mail. For a one off package alone they will pay around £140 a head for a minimum of 14 people - totalling up to £2,000. Boxes take up to 40 people and the service includes food and drink.

2,500 or 1 in 5 Post offices have been earmarked for closure across the UK this year, this will involve hundreds being closed in Wales on top of the 150 closed in 2004. This will leave a post office network of approximately 11,700 post offices once the closure programme is finished.

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon and Radnorshire has turned down the invitation in outrage and disgust at the hypocrisy and ill-timing of this splashing of cash.

Kirsty Williams said:" I am shocked at the audacity of inviting us to this junket whilst as we speak the future of post offices in my constituency and across Wales as whole, hang in the balance. I could not in clear conscience enjoy a wager on the races when the government and Post Office are gambling with the future of our communities.

"The Post Office Ltd is closing 4 Post offices in my constituency alone, with 5 to be replaced by an outreach service and 3 still awaiting their fate. While the post masters and mistresses and the customers are still reeling from the shock news at the loss of these essential services the Royal Mail is finding thousands to pay for booze filled jollies - it is quite simply shocking.

"Earlier this week I met with Post Office Ltd to beg them to overlook an unreasonable demand for the community shop in Llanbadarn Fynydd to pay £1,029.39 to re-establish an existing ISDN line following upgrading to the shop - they have refused to do so. I am angered that while the Community and I have been searching desperately for funding to pay this the very same Royal Mail Group is spending more than twice the amount on an evening of wining and dining.

"The closure of our post offices isn't just an inconvenience it can mean the loss of the last shop in the community, the inability for OAPs to collect their pension or pay bills and the loss of the communities social hub.

"It is sickening that money is being thrown at the indulgence of the privileged at a time when the post office network, so essential to the elderly and vulnerable, is being decimated piece by piece."

Notes:

• Royal Mail Group Ltd is the parent company of Royal Mail, Post Office® and Parcelforce Worldwide.

Boxes at Chepstow Racecourse cost £42,000 for a fixed three year package the jolly is set to be a pricey night out for Royal Mail. For a one off package alone they will pay a princely £132 - £147 a head for a minimum of 14 people - totalling at least £1,848 - £2,056. Boxes take up to 40 people.

The menu for the buffet can be seen at: http://www.chepstow-racecourse.co.uk/hospitality/menus-2008.asp

• An invitation from Huw Roberts, Director of Welsh Affairs, Royal Mail Group:

Ladies Day at Chepstow Races is here again - this time on Friday July 11, 2008.

We would be delighted if you and a guest were able to join Royal Mail Group Ltd in a corporate box for an exciting evening at Chepstow Racecourse on Friday July 11, 2008.

We will be organising a minibus to take guests from Cardiff to Chepstow Racecourse in plenty of time for the first race at 6.30 p.m. We anticipate setting off from Cardiff at 4 p.m (with possible pick up off the M4 at Newport).We plan to arrive at the Racecourse at 5 p.m - in time to get acquainted with the Race Card and pick your winners!

There will also be hot and cold buffet refreshments and a bar. There will be six races and the last race is at 9.10 p.m. The minibus will then take us back to Cardiff (via Newport) after the last race.

The last time we hosted this event, our guests were extremely enthusiastic about how enjoyable they found the whole experience!

• The last Conservative Government closed 3500 post offices. Labour have already shut 4000 more. The Lib Dems want to invest in the post office network to give local customers a better

deal. The Liberal Democrats will:

1. Invest £2 billion in post office network - open new

branches where needed.

2. The Post Office freed from Royal Mail restrictions to

let it develop new business.

3. A new legal requirement for the Government to

maintain the local Post Office network.

4. Government services continuing to be available at the Post Office;

• Llanbadarn Fynydd Community shop was previously situated in a demountable building, they community group have received a grant to replace this with a building and expand the shop and post office to include a café.

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