The rural Post Office is seen as an important aspect to rural life; providing access to crucial services and often, being the social ‘hub’ for a village. The Post Office Ltd will be presenting information about the new Network Change Programme at ruralnet|2007.

In response to the Governments national consultation in May, the Network Change Programme will involve the compensated closure of up to 2,500 branches, with around 500 being replaced by outreach services. With nearly 14,200 branches across the country, the Post Office network is the UK’s biggest retailer, with 96% of branches run by independent ’subpostmaster’ businesses offering over 170 products and services.

The Post Office is supporting ruralnet|uk’s 7th annual conference - ‘Rural futures - Who cares?’ - which takes place 10 - 11 October at The Belfry, West Midlands. The rural services element of the conference will focus on Post Office Network Change and will be run by Nick Beal and Sue Huggins within a workshop format. During the workshop the Post Office will discuss the Network Change program, and demonstrate some of the measures being taken to address concerns. This will look at the broader issue of rural service delivery, including considering how community, integrated, flexible, and mobile models can ensure continuity. The ‘RuralServiceSupport’ initiative which is funded by the Commission for Rural Communities will be announced at the conference. Delivered by ruralnet|uk, ‘RuralServiceSupport’ will support local communities and other stakeholders through the change process and beyond. It will seek to maximise the opportunities for positive changes to rural service delivery that will be generated through the fact that people will be focused so intensively on rural services during the network change consultation process. One of the new mobile post offices will be on show at the conference, providing an on-hand example of an ‘Outreach’ type access point.

“The Post Office has supported the ruralnet|uk conference for the last two years and we warmly welcome their involvement at ruralnet|2007. I am sure that this workshop session will be of particular interest to our delegates and it will provide an opportunity for people to learn more about forthcoming changes in rural post office network” Damien Harries, Event Manager for ruralnet|2007

There are still places available to attend ruralnet|2007, the main national rural development conference of the year, which tackles subjects such as the future for rural housing, rural education and the impact that climate change is having on our rural areas. Please call Angela Brankley on 0845 1300 411.

Notes to editors

1. ruralnet|2007 is taking place at The Belfry, West Midlands on 10th & 11th October. Please see www.ruralnetuk.org/conference for more details
2. Sue Huggins is the Programme Director - Network Change, Post Office and Nick Beal is the Network Planning Manager, Post Office Ltd.
3. ‘PostSupport’ is an on-line service you can access through local and national partner organisations that support rural communities. The way post office services are delivered in rural areas is under review and this facility is set up to help rural communities consider the alternative ways that the service needs of local residents and businesses can be met. For more info email: postsupport@ruralnet.org.uk
4. Keynote addresses at ruralnet|2007 will come from Graham Russell, Director at the
Commission for Rural Communities and Tom Oliver, Head of Policy at CPRE
who will speak on Wednesday and Thursday respectively