The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) has criticised the Post Office’s recent remuneration offer stating “it does not come close to what is needed”.
In a communication to postmasters that was seen by ConvenienceStore.co.uk, the Post Office outlined that remuneration for processing the Energy Bill Support Scheme and other government schemes is expected to be worth around £3m for postmasters.
In response to this, the NFSP said that the “£3m outlined by PO group chief Retail Officer, Martin Roberts may sound like an impressive headline figure but spread across the whole Post Office network will amount to around £260 per postmaster” when spread across the 11,500-strong network.
It urged the Post Office to recommence talks to “provide a settlement for postmasters that properly reflects their value and ensures financial security for them and their staff”.
It also called on the Government to increase its annual subsidy to ensure that the Post Office can remunerate postmasters fairly and to provide ongoing support for energy costs well beyond the Government’s six-month Energy Bill Relief scheme
“The remuneration offer does not come close to what is needed and demonstrates a lack of understanding and desire to address the real problems postmasters are experiencing today. The level of anger and frustration in the postmaster community is unprecedented due to the treatment by PO towards their defacto business partners.”
According to recent NFSP research, 70% of postmasters are currently earning the National Minimum Wage of £9.50 per hour or less, from income generated by their post offices. The NFSP warned that “neither the current nor the proposed remuneration will cover the cost in paying their staff, let alone the additional and spiralling costs of running a business in the current climate”. It added that there are a number of transactions that postmasters have to carry out for which they are not remunerated resulting in postmasters effectively often working for free and increasingly relying on the retail side of their business to subsidise the government-owned Post Office.
In response, a spokesperson for Post Office said:“Post Office recognises the impact inflation and the cost of living crisis are having on many postmasters and the wider high street. We continue to engage with our stakeholders, including the NFSP, to do all we can to support postmasters during these difficult economic times. Recent progress has ensured postmasters are now paid for more everyday banking services, such as failed banking transactions and balance checks. We welcome the NFSP’s calls for government and banks to ensure access to cash is protected and that they continue to support Post Office’s provision of banking services.”
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