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<p>In November 2010, this Government published its policy statement “Securing the
Post Office network in the digital age”, which made a clear commitment that this Government
would end the programmes of closure of the previous administration, and instead invest
in the Post Office to secure a network of at least 11,500 branches with a sustainable
long-term future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since 2010, this Government has committed
nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect the Post Office network, and
this is clearly reflected in the network figures that show the size of the network
is now stabilised. It is important to note that within a network of over 11,500 branches
that is overwhelmingly operated by independent agents, there will be fluctuations
in the number of open branches as subpostmasters leave the network for a number of
reasons, such as retirement. Where a replacement is not immediately available, the
Post Office works hard to restore access to services in the community.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>The Post Office makes details of the size of its network available
to Parliament on a regular basis. These show that at on 31 March 2005, there were
14,609 post offices. The comparative figure at the end of the 2013-14 reporting year
showed there were 11,697 branches. The following table sets out changes to the network
size for the years between 2005 and 2014:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Reporting
date</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Post Office network size</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31
March 2005</p></td><td><p>14,609</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2006</p></td><td><p>14,376</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31
March 2007</p></td><td><p>14,219</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2008</p></td><td><p>13,567</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31
March 2009</p></td><td><p>11,952</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2010</p></td><td><p>11,905</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31
March 2011</p></td><td><p>11,820</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2012</p></td><td><p>11,818</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31
March 2013</p></td><td><p>11,780</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>31 March 2014</p></td><td><p>11,697</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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