Gloucester council mail is sent to Worcestershire to be opened

Gloucester residents who wish to write to their city council have to post their letters to a Worcestershire town some 23 miles away.

Gloucester City Council has been paying a private contractor to open its post for them at a PO box address in Pershore since July.

Post was redirected there after the council completed its office move to Eastgate Shopping Centre in the summer.

All their mail is now sent to a digital mail scanning facility to be opened, scanned and subsequently circulated via email to the addressee.

Council leaders say the digital mail service ensures that post is circulated quickly, usually within a day of receipt.

But Labour group leader Terry Pullen (L, Moreland) said he could not understand why the post was being sent to Pershore when the council is based in Gloucester.

He asked performance and resources cabinet member Hannah Norman (C, Quedgeley Fieldcourt) how much the service costs.

“We are based in Gloucester, the city council provides its services in Gloucester and serves the people of Gloucester, so I just don’t know why we don’t have a postal address in Gloucester,” he said.

Cllr Norman said she did not have the figures to hand but would send them to Cllr Pullen.

“I have seen this type of scheme happen in lots of public and private organisations previously and it does provide good value for money for the authority,” she said.

“That’s why we made this decision. It gives us an efficient service. The mail is being responded to normally within the same day.”

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk