Couple’s court fight over post office closures

By Elizabeth Choppin

The government and Royal Mail are set to be challenged in court over the legality of the programme of 2,500 post office closures.

This month, the High Court in London granted a disabled couple, Jonathan Coe, 60, and Judy Brown, 61, from Hastings, Sussex, a judicial review into whether the closures were unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The couple say the government acted unlawfully in 2006 by removing Royal Mail from the list of public bodies subject to the DDA’s disability equality duty, which would require carrying out disability impact assessments.

They are particularly concerned about the imminent closure of their local post office in Hastings, which they use for banking, shopping and paying bills.
Nearly two-thirds of planned closures have already taken place.

Mr Coe said: “What the Royal Mail and the government are doing is tempting to drive straight through the provisions of the DDA 2005 and build a new, reduced level postal service on the ruins of the old one.”

He added: “If they get their way, it will mean all the work of the disability lobby to get the DDA in place is for naught and the provisions of the act are valueless and worthless.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: “We believe we have applied the law correctly and will continue to defend our decision…As with all service-providers, Royal Mail is legally required to make reasonable adjustments to its services to ensure they are accessible to disabled people and not to discriminate against disabled people in line with the DDA.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said Post Office Ltd  was  implementing  government  policy  as  “sensitively as possible” and that a comment on the issues behind the High Court ruling would be “impossible at this early stage”.

He said Royal Mail had no plans to stall or amend closure plans while the judicial review takes place.

The final hearing is expected to take place in October.