As the chairman of statutory consumer body for postal services I note with interest your report on post offices ("Fears for future of post offices", The Herald, November 5).
Whilst the privatised Royal Mail is required to use Post Office Limited for a period of 10 years, what is not generally realised is that the clock is already ticking.
The 10-year contract between Royal Mail and Post Office Limited was signed in March 2012. Given the reach and spread of 11,500 post offices it may seem highly unlikely that Royal Mail would press the nuclear button and terminate the contract completely in 2022. But nothing can be guaranteed; this is a commercial contract and there is no right of appeal.
Douglas Sinclair,
Chairman, Scotland Committee,
Consumer Futures, Royal Exchange House, 100 Queen Street, Glasgow.
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