Rural Post Offices

All over the county, rural communities are rallying to support their local services. Post Offices are an area of particular concern. Community groups are being established to take over the management of village post offices and shops, to run them as community enterprises. This means ploughing any profit back into the facility and ensuring continuing access to such services. There is even the potential for improvement and expansion.

To support communities in this, the Post Office has developed a part-time contract, called a Community Office Contract. This means a group can negotiate more flexible hours, tailored to suit levels of business and demand in village communities. The contract also takes into account the difficulty of finding appropriate business premises within a small village, and allows for the services to be provided from a variety of places, including private houses, garages, pubs, farm outbuildings and village halls. The contract will specify what services are to be provided and for how many hours per week.

Some of these enterprises are wholly voluntary, with the duties shared amongst a pool of volunteers. In this situation, one volunteer needs to sign the contract with the Post Office. In other words, put themselves forward as the responsible party - so that tasks can then be delegated amongst the whole group. If at any point this individual no longer wishes to be involved, they give notice of three months to the Post Office. Another member of the group can take on the lead role. Where there is a paid sub-postmaster/mistress, however part-time, that person undertakes the contract with the Post Office.

How about using the Village Hall?

One of the options for communities looking to establish or maintain post office services, is to operate the post office out of a village hall. There are a lot of important factors for the village hall committee to consider in this scenario, including implications for the charitable status of the hall. ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) has produced an extremely helpful information sheet on this subject - for a copy contact us.

Other issues to bear in mind are those of security, insurance and the needs of other groups using the hall. For instance, if a playgroup is operating at the same time as the post office facility is open. The fact that the building is open to members of the public could present safety and security issues for the playgroup. On a practical level, the Post Office will advise on security matters and equipment. It is also worth noting that a village hall management committee cannot have a contract with the Post Office, although a committee member could take out a contract in their own right.

Availability of suitable space is likely to be an issue for most groups thinking about such a project. To this end, the Post Office has developed a self-contained counter, without screens but with security systems integral to it, which is much more compact than the conventional post office counter (and would fit comfortably into a relatively small space).

Some halls that have already gone through this process are: Chilthorne Domer, West Camel, Compton Dundon and Odcombe.

Don't forget that the Community Council for Somerset is here to help you with any such project, to give guidance and support. We may very often be able to put you in touch with someone who has already been through the sane thing. If your community's shop or post office is under threat, please do contact us and we'll do all we can to help.

For all kinds of information about the Post Office visit www.postoffice.co.uk