Chamber
Plenary, 06 Dec 2006
06 Dec 2006 · S2 · Plenary
Item of business
Rural Post Offices
I thank John Swinney for securing the debate.
It is clear to me that we need to have joined-up thinking in our own back yard before we make a case for it to London. The issues that come to mind are to do with equal opportunities, which the Parliament and the Government claim to support. I am talking about equal opportunities for older people and those who live in remoter communities. It is not simply a question of the town-country divide.
Post offices are about social inclusion. Communities that are deprived of the services that post offices provide will not get their fair share. Post offices are also about future community confidence. We hope that more people will live in remoter areas. We do not want there to be managed decline of the areas that I am talking about; we want the population to increase.
If we want to stop the people of Durness having to drive 14 miles to the nearest post office and 35 miles to the nearest bank—which is what they would have to do if their post office closed down—and to cut the use of fuel, we must ensure that post offices in such areas, where fuel is extremely expensive, remain open. People in Durness are forced to have a car because public transport is so poor. The threat to the rural post office network opens up the debate about the need for our Government to have a rural multiple deprivation index that we can use to demonstrate which services in rural areas we should provide with public support.
The worst areas for the provision of services are those that are identified as rural service priority areas, which include Sanday, North Ronaldsay and Stronsay in Orkney, Tongue and Farr, Brora, Uig, Harris West, Harris East, Eriskay, Barra, Vatersay, Skye West, Islay North, Jura, Colonsay and East Lochfyne, all of which are in the Highlands and Islands region that I represent. Such communities already have the fewest services and are given special funding to back up those that they have. As rural post offices close, access to post office services and retail shops will become more difficult.
People can be innovative, but they need the backing of a Government that has a joined-up approach. Obviously, I would like a Scottish Government to be able to adopt such an approach. At present, we have to ask the minister to go to London to ask about the means by which we can support such communities. If we want to get joined-up thinking, we must tell the ministers in London that the communities that we represent have a future, but that they are threatening it because of their attitude to the post office network.
It is clear to me that we need to have joined-up thinking in our own back yard before we make a case for it to London. The issues that come to mind are to do with equal opportunities, which the Parliament and the Government claim to support. I am talking about equal opportunities for older people and those who live in remoter communities. It is not simply a question of the town-country divide.
Post offices are about social inclusion. Communities that are deprived of the services that post offices provide will not get their fair share. Post offices are also about future community confidence. We hope that more people will live in remoter areas. We do not want there to be managed decline of the areas that I am talking about; we want the population to increase.
If we want to stop the people of Durness having to drive 14 miles to the nearest post office and 35 miles to the nearest bank—which is what they would have to do if their post office closed down—and to cut the use of fuel, we must ensure that post offices in such areas, where fuel is extremely expensive, remain open. People in Durness are forced to have a car because public transport is so poor. The threat to the rural post office network opens up the debate about the need for our Government to have a rural multiple deprivation index that we can use to demonstrate which services in rural areas we should provide with public support.
The worst areas for the provision of services are those that are identified as rural service priority areas, which include Sanday, North Ronaldsay and Stronsay in Orkney, Tongue and Farr, Brora, Uig, Harris West, Harris East, Eriskay, Barra, Vatersay, Skye West, Islay North, Jura, Colonsay and East Lochfyne, all of which are in the Highlands and Islands region that I represent. Such communities already have the fewest services and are given special funding to back up those that they have. As rural post offices close, access to post office services and retail shops will become more difficult.
People can be innovative, but they need the backing of a Government that has a joined-up approach. Obviously, I would like a Scottish Government to be able to adopt such an approach. At present, we have to ask the minister to go to London to ask about the means by which we can support such communities. If we want to get joined-up thinking, we must tell the ministers in London that the communities that we represent have a future, but that they are threatening it because of their attitude to the post office network.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Murray Tosh):
Con
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S2M-4876, in the name of John Swinney, on a threat to the rural post office network in Sco...
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes the public concern over the future of the rural post office network in Perthshire, Angus and other parts of rural Scotland; notes t...
Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP):
SNP
I thank the many members who signed my motion and the Parliamentary Bureau for facilitating an important debate about the future of services in rural Scotlan...
John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP):
SSCUP
Does the member agree that it is not only rural post offices that are at risk, but the whole network of post offices across the country, which is under inten...
Mr Swinney:
SNP
Mr Swinburne makes a fair point. I will say something about the business viability of post offices being jeopardised.Due to the limitations of transport in r...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Con
There is a very long list of members who wish to speak in the debate. I will discuss with the minister whether we might have a brief extension. However, ther...
Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD):
LD
I congratulate John Swinney on instigating this timely debate. At a presentation on 30 November, Tom Begg, the chairman of Postwatch Scotland, said that rura...
Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
Will the member give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Con
The member is almost at the end of her time.
Nora Radcliffe:
LD
The report continues:"If the country wants a comprehensive network of Post Offices to continue, a more explicit funding mechanism must be put in place, toget...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Con
Can you wind up please?
Nora Radcliffe:
LD
There are many things that could and should be done to maintain a unique network that is a valuable asset. If we do not use it, we will lose it and, if we lo...
Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP):
SNP
I congratulate my colleague John Swinney on securing tonight's debate. On 22 September in Birnam, he and I sat at a packed meeting with sub-postmasters from ...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I congratulate John Swinney on securing a debate on what is an important matter for the whole of rural Scotland.I appreciate that support for sub-post office...
Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab):
Lab
I thank John Swinney for bringing this important debate to the Parliament this evening.Post office closures have a significant knock-on impact on local commu...
Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
I thank John Swinney for securing this debate. It is significant that a large number of MSPs from across the political divide are attending and want to speak...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP):
SNP
I thank John Swinney for securing the debate.It is clear to me that we need to have joined-up thinking in our own back yard before we make a case for it to L...
Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green):
Green
I thank John Swinney—the man who has had more members' business debates than the entire Scottish Green Party in the second session of the Parliament—for secu...
Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP):
SNP
My last members' business debate earlier in the year was on the subject of the future of Post Office card accounts and the future of our post office network,...
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
I offer John Swinney my warmest congratulations on securing the debate. I am sure that it will worry him that I agree with every word he said.If we were to c...
Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
I congratulate John Swinney on securing the debate and, like Jamie Stone, agree with every word that he said. As another MSP for the Highlands and Islands, I...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Con
Before I call the next speaker, I am minded to accept a motion without notice to extend the debate by 10 minutes.
Motion moved,
That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended until 6.04 pm.—Mr John Swinney.
Motion agreed to.
Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I congratulate John Swinney on securing this debate, but the problem with debates on post offices is that we have to revisit the issue so often. If, as Jamie...
Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD):
LD
I, too, congratulate John Swinney on securing this debate.The pre-1997 UK Government had the unhappy record of overseeing the closure of 3,500 local post off...
Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP):
SNP
Rural communities are at the heart of the debate. I have the privilege of representing one of the three parliamentary constituencies in Aberdeenshire, where ...
The Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Rhona Brankin):
Lab
I, too, am pleased that John Swinney has given us the opportunity to discuss further the important subject of rural postal services. I have rural postal serv...