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1690765

registered interest
date	21/02/2024
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a Post Office access target for outreach mobile services in rural communities.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	15123
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2024 answer text <p>The Post Office operates as a commercial business and the company has the freedom to deliver the branch network within the parameters we set. The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that services remain within local reach of all citizens, including rural communities.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>​</strong>Providing outreach services is a measure that Post Office takes to ensure communities have the access they require to Post Office products and services, particularly in local areas where permanent solutions are not always possible due to lack of premises or retailers. In these communities, outreach branches ensure customers are not left behind and can continue to access the Post Office services on which they rely.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake question first answered 26/02/2024 16:24:07 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1624539

registered interest
date	27/04/2023
answering body	Department for Business and Trade
answering dept id	214
answering dept short name	Business and Trade
answering dept sort name	Business and Trade
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what services are currently offered by mobile service Post Offices in rural areas; and whether they will ensure that all services offered by Post Offices, such as such as the ability to deposit cash by small businesses, are replicated.
tabling member printed	Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
uin	HL7522
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2023 answer text <p>Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria and protects services, including cash and banking services, by setting minimum services to be provided at post offices across the country. This ensures that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a post office.</p><p> </p><p>Outreach Post Offices are used in communities or when it is not possible to open a full-time branch due to lack of premises or retailers in the local area. Outreaches provide a full range of services including cash and banking services.</p> answering member printed The Earl of Minto question first answered 22/05/2023 17:00:01 answering member 4952 label Biography information for The Earl of Minto
tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

1541903

registered interest
date	14/11/2022
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure effective provision of post office services in rural areas.
tabling member constituency	Somerton and Frome
tabling member printed	David Warburton
uin	86544
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2022 answer text <p>The Government has provided over £2.5 billion in funding to support the Post Office network over the past 10 years and is further providing £335 million for the Post Office over the next three years. This package includes funding to ensure the viability of rural and community branches. Since 2019 funding for the network has been maintained at £50 million a year and will remain at the same level until 2025.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, the Government-set access criteria requires 95% of the population in rural areas to be within three miles of the nearest branch. The Post Office network meets and exceeds this at a national level.</p> answering member constituency Thirsk and Malton answering member printed Kevin Hollinrake grouped question UIN 86545 question first answered 22/11/2022 17:07:45 answering member 4474 label Biography information for Kevin Hollinrake
tabling member	4526 label Biography information for David Warburton

1349516

registered interest
date	22/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to prevent rural post office closures.
tabling member constituency	Cynon Valley
tabling member printed	Beth Winter
uin	38457
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in the country can access essential services via the Post Office conveniently and locally. The Government continues to safeguard the Post Office network and protect existing rural services through the access criteria that Government sets.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 09/09/2021 16:37:28 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4809 label Biography information for Beth Winter

1346443

registered interest
date	13/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with the Post Office on the potential effect on rural postmasters in the moving from a volume-based payment model to a value-based payment model for their remuneration for delivering postal services.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	32431
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2021 answer text <p>The Government continues to safeguard the Post Office network and protect existing rural services through the access criteria that Government sets. While postmaster remuneration and the changes resulting from the second Mails Distribution Agreement agreed recently between Post Office and Royal Mail is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd, Government recognises the importance of supporting postmasters and ensuring they are rewarded fairly for the services they provide.</p><p> </p><p>The Government expects Post Office to listen carefully to the feedback received during the recent consultation on the proposed changes to ensure that running a Post Office remains an attractive proposition.</p><p> </p><p>Post Office has committed to communicating the final changes to postmaster remuneration in September.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully grouped question UIN 32432 question first answered 19/07/2021 15:30:50 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1313875

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of outreach post office services as a substitute for traditional post offices in (a) the Tatton constituency and (b) rural constituencies more widely.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	698
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/05/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to safeguarding the Post Office network and protecting existing rural services as we recognise the important role post offices play in serving their communities. The Government promotes access to rural post offices by setting accessibility criteria which the Post Office must meet. This ensures that in rural areas over 95% of people are within 3 miles of their nearest post office service. In remote and rural areas where it is difficult to deliver services to consumers via a permanent site, Post Office Limited use outreach services, such as a mobile van, or a village hall. These offer the same products and services as bricks-and-mortar branches. Within the Tatton constituency, there is one outreach service in Chelford.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 21/05/2021 13:21:21 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1226867

registered interest
date	21/07/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to maintain the public subsidy allocated to Post Offices in rural locations after March 2021.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
tabling member printed	Gill Furniss
uin	77737
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/09/2020 answer text <p>The Government has invested over £2 billion in the Post Office network since 2010.</p><p>Our current funding agreement with Post Office runs up to 2021 and we are working with Post Office to ensure the network is sustainable beyond that point. Beyond 2021, Government remains committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the network and will work with Post Office Limited to achieve this.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 03/09/2020 16:30:47 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4571 label Biography information for Gill Furniss

1151673

registered interest
date	22/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote access to, and services provided by, rural post offices; and wwhether they will provide an update on the status of the Post Office Card Account.
tabling member printed	Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
uin	HL310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>Government committed in its 2017 manifesto to safeguard the Post Office network and protect existing rural services, recognising the important role post offices play in serving their communities. The Government promotes access to rural post offices by setting accessibility criteria which the Post Office must meet. This ensures that in rural areas over 95% of people are within 3 miles of their nearest post office service. In remote and rural areas where it is difficult to deliver services to consumers via a permanent site, Post Office Limited use outreach services, such as a mobile van, or a village hall. These offer the same products and services as bricks-and-mortar branches.</p><p> </p><p>In recent years the Government has provided over £2bn investment into the Post Office which has seen over 7700 branches modernised, many thousands in rural areas. Having a modern accessible network enables the Post Office to secure and deliver services for customers, such as banking, bill payment and mails services, across the whole network, including rural areas, where in many cases the post office is the last shop in the village.</p><p> </p><p>The contract for the Post Office Card Account (POca) is a commercial matter for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Post Office Limited (POL). The contract will come to an end on 30 November 2021. DWP is working with Post Office Limited (POL) to prepare POca users for this by undertaking a project to move significant volumes of existing POca service users onto a mainstream bank account. Those POca customers who transition to a mainstream account will still be able to access their pension and benefit payments via the post office. <br> <br> For claimants who are unable to open a mainstream account ahead of this date, DWP will implement an alternative payment service that allows users to obtain cash payments whatever their location before the end of the contract.</p> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 30/10/2019 17:22:37 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	384 label Biography information for Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

1141476

registered interest
date	23/07/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support rural post offices.
tabling member constituency	South Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Alberto Costa
uin	281127
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2019 answer text <p>While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business.</p><p>The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in rural communities across the UK; this is why the Government committed in its 2017 manifesto to safeguard the post office network and enhance the provision of rural services.</p><p>Thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010 the overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches. This investment includes the continuation of subsidy payments to support community post offices, the last shop in the village.</p><p>In addition, I met with Lord Gardiner of Kimble, the Minister for Rural Affairs, on 26 June 2019 to discuss the key role rural post offices play in communities. It remains a Government priority, as stated in the 2017 Conservative manifesto, to ensure the rural network is protected.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 31/07/2019 15:17:46 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4439 label Biography information for Alberto Costa

1128267

registered interest
date	22/05/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Post Offices: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support rural post office branches.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	257530
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. Thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010 the overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 06/06/2019 09:33:46 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston