CorpComms Magazine

The national consultation that led to the closure of 2,500 Post Office branches was considered a 'sham' by consumers, according to a report by Consumer Focus, which gives the process 4.2 out of ten for communication.

The report, 'How was it for you? Customer engagement in the Post Office closure programme', found that the Post Office failed to effectively engage with consumers and missed vital opportunities to obtain local knowledge on how cutbacks would affect communities.

The Post Office received 190,000 formal responses while Postwatch received an additional 15,000 during the six-week consultation period, but Consumer Focus estimates that more than 2.7 million consumers made their views known through signed petitions, public meetings and letters to MPs.

However, just one in 13 directly contributed to the decision making process and less than 20 per cent of consumers were aware that they were able to formally respond to the closure proposals.

Consumer Focus recommends that similar large-scale consultations are effectively publicised and should take 12 weeks, to provide enough time for consumers to respond and communities to develop alternative proposals.

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