Download or read book Post Office Card Account written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business and Enterprise Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 12th report from the Business and Enterprise Committee (HCP 1052, session 2007-08) examines the Post Office Card Account (POCA) and successor arrangements. Benefit and state pensions from May 1999 were delivered by the direct payments system, with the aim that between April and March 2005 the majority of benefits and state pensions would migrate to a bank-based system, so replacing order books and girocheques. Part of this change involved the introduction of the Post Office Card Account. This account was for customers to obtain benefits who could not, or would not use a bank account (in HCP 1717, session 2005-06 (ISBN 9780215031426), the Treasury Committee's report, stated some 4.3 million people were using POCA to receive benefits, 2.3 million being pensioners). POCA therefore caters for people who do not want, or cannot use a conventional bank account, and that they are disproportionately likely to be poor or elderly and live in rural or deprived urban areas. The first contract for the Post Office Card Account expires in 2010. In May, 2007, the Government issued a tender in the Official Journal of the European Community (C2007, 5634 final). For the Committee, awarding the contract to an organisation other than the Post Office Limited will have grave effects on the Post Office network, and indirectly the taxpayer, who may need to pay an increased subsidy to maintain a national network of post offices, while supporting the commercial providers of the DWP card account. The contract has been advertised on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender, which does allow the Government to take a wide range of criteria into consideration. The Committee states, that the Government must ensure that easy and reliable access to cash and benefits remains possible for those who use POCA. Delays in the successor to POCA are destabilising Post Office Ltd, and leaving communities in rural and deprived urban areas uncertain about the future of their local post office. The Post Office network provides services of general economic importance and plays a vital social role. With the current contract expiring in April 2010, existing POCA customers will need to be transferred to a successor account.
Download or read book Post offices securing their future written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business and Enterprise Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009-07-07 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For Vol. 1, Report, see (ISBN 9780215532725)
Download or read book Stamp of approval written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Trade and Industry Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-04-12 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government believes that the current network of Post Offices is unsustainable and has outlined plans for restructuring, which involve closures, relocations and new delivery mechanisms. This report examines this strategy, the distance based criteria that would guide closures, the consultation on the plans at a local level, the future viability of the network, the services the post offices could provide to ensure their viability and the nature of the successor to the Post Office Card Account.
Download or read book Losing the Post Office Card Account written by David Sinclair and published by . This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Post Office Finance written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business and Enterprise Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the Committee's third report on the Post Office: the first (3rd report session 2007-08, HC 292-I, ISBN 9780215513663) looked at the progress of the programme in which the post office network will be reduced to some 11,500 branches; the second (6th report, HC 577, ISBN 9780215520739) commented on the responses to the first Report, and raised particular concerns about the financial transparency of Post Office Ltd and Royal Mail Group, its parent company, about the adequacy of funding for outreach services, and about the relationship between Post Office Ltd and mail services. The Committee made the unusual decision to take oral evidence from Post Office Ltd and Postwatch between publishing its sixth report and receiving the Government response. This evidence has confirmed two of the Committee's concerns: the costs to Post Office Ltd of delivering Royal Mail Group services; and the financial support to sub-postmasters for providing outreach services. Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd should provide clear information on: what services Royal Mail Group expects Post Office Ltd to deliver for it; how Royal Mail Group determines the price it pays for these services; and how much it actually currently costs Post Office Ltd to deliver them. The Committee remains concerned that the funding provided for outreach services may be inadequate, and recommend that the National Audit Office investigate the financial arrangements for outreach services.
Download or read book Royal Mail Group written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Trade and Industry Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-12-14 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Royal Mail Group : Ninth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence
Download or read book Why Canada Needs Postal Banking written by John Anderson and published by FriesenPress. This book was released on with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In almost half the communities in small town and rural Canada that have a post office, there are no bank or credit union branches; Only about fifty-four bank and credit union branches exist in the over 615 First Nations communities in Canada; A growing number of urban areas in Canada have no accessible banks or credit unions Why Canada Needs Postal Banking offers a plethora of information about the banking industry that will shock ordinary Canadians. In explaining the banking system that many of us take for granted, the author reveals a deep, and largely unrecognized, gap between the services offered in densely populated, urban spaces and those available in small towns, rural and remote regions, and Indigenous communities. As a solution to this dearth in services, John Anderson proposes a logical alternative to big, private-sector banks: the post office. Basing his argument on historical fact, international experience, and the exorbitant cost of traditional banking services, the author builds a logical and compelling case for reestablishing banking services at Canada Post. Composed of a collection of research papers, interviews, and opinion pieces, Why Canada Needs Postal Banking provides convincing and well-organized data to support the reintroduction of postal service banking in Canada. Readers can absorb survey results that document citizen, municipality, and union support for this strategy. Tables and graphics provide easy access for those who want to assess the statistical facts and figures at a glance. Written in clear, succinct, and transparent language, Why Canada Needs Postal Banking engages the reader while delivering surprising information. In a landscape where challenges seem overwhelming much of the time, this book proposes a solution that, while not without its difficulties, is implementable. It delivers answers and alternatives that support business and individuals’ needs in different parts of the economy that have been, for too long and too often, overlooked.
Download or read book Post Office closure programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-02-09 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines how the Post Office closure programme is being implemented and areas where it could be improved. The Network Change Programme began in July 2007 and the final consultation is scheduled to end in October 2008. This challenging timetable has meant that consultation has been curtailed, and the whole process has been rushed. The Committee does not accept that a reduction to 7,500 offices is acceptable, and a minimum of 11,500 fixed outlets is recommended. Post Office Ltd should be clearer in its approach to public consultation about closures. The Committee is also concerned that access criteria - proximity of population to offices, local transport and geographical constraints - have not been fully taken into account, nor the principle of services being fully accessible to all. The process has been improving with more experience, but there is still room for further improvement and clarity.
Download or read book Postal services in Scotland written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Scottish Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-01-09 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee's report considers two key issues: the maintenance of a universal service and the continuation of a sustainable Post Office network across Scotland. The report welcomes assurances that Scotland would not be made exempt from the universal service obligation. Further clarification is needed on Ofcom's power to designate more than one universal service provider. Ofcom should be required to consult with consumers, small businesses and vulnerable users in remote, rural and island communities in Scotland before it recommends any changes to the existing USO. There are considerable advantages to a long, stable and robust relationship between Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd and the Committee recommends that a ten year Inter Business Agreement should be reached prior to any sale of Royal Mail. On the Post Office network, the Bill makes no provision for the number of Post Offices and does not set out criteria for access to the network, a matter of concern because the current criteria could be met by 7,500 branches rather than the existing 11,500 branches. This could lead to many closures in Scotland. The Committee recommends that the Government gives assurances to preserving the existing network of branches. Elements of Outreach Post Offices, which replaced 102 Post Office branches in rural and remote parts of Scotland, are not sufficiently robust or reliable to provide an adequate service, according to the Committee, and it fears the new Post Office Local risks downgrading the service further. Improvements should be delivered as a matter of urgency.
Download or read book Modernisation and Privatisation of Postal Systems in Europe written by Roberto Ruozi and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the positive experience made in 1999, with the research and consequent publication of the volume "Banking Privatisation in Europe. The Process and the Consequences on Strategies and Organisational Structures", published by Springer-Verlag, we have decided to set up a new group of researchers to study the present changes within the European postal systems and the privatisation developments. Starting from our competencies and specific knowledge - financial markets and management of bank intermediaries - our research has basically focussed onto the posts' financial services offer and their future perspectives. The subject is particularly interesting considering the radical changes, which are giving to 'the postal activity and the competition itself a new profile. And this reality paves the way to new opportunities in the market segment of financial services for retail customers and, at the same time, it brings in new threats. Our approach is the approach of compared analysis in Europe in order to detect common trends in the development or possible specific features, as well as positioning perspectives of the different national Posts in the single market of financial services. Our working group has benefited from the collaboration of researchers and experts with different nationality, university education and experience. Eminent representatives of postal companies, regulation and control bodies, banks and financial institutes have been interviewed and have allowed precious elements to deepen our knowledge and capacity of interpreting the present trends.
Download or read book Post Office network transformation written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-07-17 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this report the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee outlines its concerns with regards to the Government's proposals for change to the ownership and administration of the Post Office network. The new role of post offices as front offices for Government services will be vital to their ongoing financial viability. The Government must set out the services that are to be delivered through this method whilst Post Office Ltd must demonstrate a clear marketing strategy to ensure post offices are promoted as the preferred outlet for such services. The new method of remuneration for 'Local' post offices may not be viable for subpostmasters, increasing the likelihood that large supermarkets will take over the Post Office mantle. There is little detail on the programme for change with regards to mutualisation and particularly on how any such mutualisation would be affected should the majority of 'Locals' be owned by a small number of major companies. The Committee recommends that the Government outline how such a situation would affect the ability of the Post Office to become a mutual organisation. On the question of a Post Office subsidy, the Committee supports the long-term objective for post offices to become financially self-sufficient. Indirect financial support, largely in the form of the Front Office Government services will be key to achieving this ambition, but some smaller offices may never achieve financial independence and they should be supported as they often deliver some of the most vital services to rural or deprived areas.
Download or read book The Feasibility of Citizen s Income written by Malcolm Torry and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first full-length treatment of the desirability and feasibility of implementing a citizen’s income (also known as a basic income). It tests for two different kinds of financial feasibility as well as for psychological, behavioral, administrative, and political viability, and then assesses how a citizen’s income might find its way through the policy process from proposal to implementation. Drawing on a wide variety of sources of evidence from around the world, this new book from the director of the Citizen’s Income Trust, UK, provides an essential foundation for policy and implementation debates. Governments, think tanks, economists, and public servants will find this thorough encompassing book indispensable to their consideration of the economic and social advantages and practicalities of a basic income.
Download or read book New Frontiers in Banking Services written by Luisa Anderloni and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-03-21 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is devoted to a subject which deserves growing attention from policy makers, financial operators and academics. It is the issue of unbanking or underbanking in developed countries. With respect to this, the goal of the authors has been to devote more efforts to understanding the problem of financial exclusion in order to offer to low-moderate-income people new opportunities of accessing financial services (banking, credit and investment services).
Download or read book Cash Machine Charges written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About one third of ATMs now make direct charges to consumers, and in 2004 it is estimated that UK consumers paid £140 million in charges made whilst accessing funds through cash machines. The Committee's report examines the principle and increasing trend towards charging, the clarity of presentation of these charges to the consumer, the likely impact on financial exclusion and low-income households, and key areas for action from government, regulators and the industry. Findings include that although there has been an increase in free machines as well as charging machines, their location and the lack of transparency about which machines make charges hinders genuine competition and consumer choice. Recommendations include that there should be a clearer indication of the amount of surcharge on external signage with standardised labelling for all free and charging machines. The LINK network agreement needs to improve consumer representation and its enforcement mechanisms. The trend towards ATM charges should not be allowed to exacerbate existing financial exclusion, and the Government should ensure that the switch to direct payment of benefits does not disadvantage recipients in their access to cash.
Download or read book Financial Exclusion written by S. Carbó and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-17 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is concerned with the increasingly important and problematic area of financial exclusion, broadly defined as the inability and/or reluctance of particular societal groups to access mainstream financial services. This has emerged as a major international policy issue. There is growing evidence that deregulation in developed financial sectors improves financial inclusion for some societal groups (more products become available to a bigger customer base), but may at the same time exacerbate it for others (for example, by emphasizing greater customer segmentation and more emphasis on risk-based pricing and 'value added'). In developing countries access to financial services is typically limited and therefore providing wider access to such services can aid financial and economic development. This is the first text to analyze financial exclusion issues in different parts of the world and it covers the various public and private sector mechanisms that have been advanced to help eradicate this problem.
Download or read book Financial inclusion follow up written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-09 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report follows up on a previous report (HC 848-I, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780215031396), and a related publication on banking services (HC 1717, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780215031426). The Committee commends the Government's response to these earlier reports, but sets out some 33 conclusions and recommendations, including: the development of a wider range of savings options for lower income households; more protection for consumers from the risks relating to prepayment systems, such as Christmas savings schemes; the launch of a targeted national Saving Gateway scheme with the Government matching savings by low-income individuals with its own contributions; a renewed commitment from the Government to the reform and future funding of the Social Fund; the Committee commends the Government's consultation process on changes to legislation within which credit unions operate, and the possible renaming of credit unions to "community banks", the Committee further recommends that such bodies should be able to pay interest on savings.
