Ministers want to turn the Post Office into a co-operative and have asked business experts to investigate how to hand over control of the 364-year-old post office to the deputy postmaster general who runs it. did.
Management consultants have been asked to find a way to hand over the scandal-hit group to an employee-owned mutual company, similar to how the John Lewis Partnership is run, Sky News reported. The Department of Commerce and Industry worked with Boston Consulting Group to conduct a commercial study on the future of the Post Office.
Work is said to be at an early stage, with a report expected to be handed to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in the coming months.
Calls for an overhaul of the Post Office have been growing following the wrongful conviction of hundreds of sub-postmasters accused of stealing cash from Post Office branches.
The case has been described as Britain's biggest miscarriage of justice and sparked public outrage after it was depicted in an ITV drama. Mr. Bates v. Post Office.
Last night campaigner Alan Bates questioned the plans. “Personally, I don't think this will work. Right now the government is giving subsidies, but we're going to need more support. They give it to the subpostmaster and say, 'Here you go.' I can't afford it.
He said: “I don't think mutualization will save the government or taxpayers a huge amount of money, because no matter how good the system is, once it's up and running it won't subsidize the Post Office for many years. Because it will happen,” he said. of sunday times.
Fellow justice campaigner James Arbuthnot expressed doubts about the postman's financial resources.
Last year the Post Office made a loss of around £76m and has debts of £799m.
A public inquiry into Post Office miscarriages of justice has reported that replacing the Horizon IT system at the center of the scandal could cost up to £1.1bn.
Past governments have considered similar plans but abandoned them after encountering problems.
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Liam Byrne, chairman of the council's enterprise select committee, said mutualisation was an option with many possibilities.
Most post offices make money by providing a variety of government services, and profit margins are tightly controlled.
More than 11,600 mobile post offices are privately operated as Post Office franchises.
A review of the post office by consulting firm Teneo is expected to recommend cutting directly employed staff from 3,500 to 1,000.
