Welsh Government
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New Post Office Development Fund proposals unveiled
The new fund will provide an opportunity for sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses to strengthen their businesses and make them sustainable in the long term for the benefit of the communities they serve.
Today marks the start of a twelve week consultation on the proposals which will fulfil a One Wales agreement commitment to reinstate and refocus the Post Office Development Fund.
The scheme is intended to help sub-postmasters diversify their businesses by providing funding for such things as business and marketing advice, advertising, training and some set-up costs for new services.
The new fund could also pay for physical improvements to Post Office premises which are not funded by Post Office Ltd. The consultation asks for views on the types of improvements that could be funded for example creating better access to the building, upgrading computer equipment, improving security or providing better signs for the outside of the building.
Comments are also being sought on whether the fund should be targeted at deprived and isolated communities. Consideration will also be given to whether a grant would help provide a distinct social purpose for the community for example support for the last retailer in the village.
Given the wider remit of the new fund it may be renamed as the Post Office Diversification Fund.
Deputy Minister for Leighton Andrews said:
We have always recognised the social and community value of Post Offices, particularly in relation to supporting vulnerable people in our most isolated and most disadvantaged communities.
We want to see Post Offices thrive so that they can continue to provide an essential service in the communities they serve. To help achieve this we need to help individual subpostmasters and subpostmistresses have sustainable and viable businesses in the future.
The proposals I have set out today will help us to realise this aim. I look forward to seeing the responses to the consultation and launching the new fund in January.
I have also made it clear to the UK Government the importance that the Welsh Assembly Government places on the social role that post offices play and my worry about the impact that any future loss of business will have. I have made it clear that fears have been repeatedly expressed in the National Assembly for the future viability of post offices if they fail to secure the Post Office Card Account contract.
Between 2002 and 2004 the Welsh Assembly Government offered grants totalling £4.1m under the previous Post Office Development Fund to 106 post offices in some of the most deprived and isolated areas in Wales. Funds are currently available to match this sum, although the actual amount spent will depend on take up of the grant.
The Welsh Assembly Government continues to provide support to post offices through the small business rate relief scheme. The scheme introduced in April 2007 substantially improved relief for small post offices in all parts of Wales. A very large number of Post Offices in rural and urban areas are completely exempt from business rates. Initial figures show that over 950 post offices received relief last year worth a total of over £1.25m.
The consultation will end on 30 October 2008. The new scheme will open on 1 January 2009.
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