Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving (a) the Post Office in Wales and (b) his Departmental powers to Wales.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are no plans to devolve the Post Office in Wales. The access criteria set by Government ensures Post Office delivers essential services across all four nations of the UK via its network of 11,500 branches.
We will work closely with the Welsh Government in line with the existing devolution settlement. Welsh businesses can access a range of DBT support including those delivered through our unrivalled international network at posts overseas.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving (a) the Post Office in Wales and (b) her Departmental powers to Wales.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
There are no plans to devolve the Post Office in Wales. Post Office delivers essential services across all four nations of the UK thanks to the network of 11,500 branches and the Government-set access criteria. Our focus is on supporting businesses and growing the economy across the UK.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of the total rural population in Wales was within three miles of (a) Local, (b) Local Plus, (c) Main or Crown and (d) mobile outreach Post Office branches in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government protects the Post Office network by setting minimum access criteria to ensure that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a post office. These criteria ensure that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.
Post Office network coverage data is not available in the detail requested. However, according to the most recent Post Office Annual Network Report, there were 566 rural branches in Wales as of March 2023.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
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.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
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.
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.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending Post Office target access criteria to include (a) distances by road and (b) services provided.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government protects the post office network by setting minimum access criteria to ensure that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a post office. These criteria ensure that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.
Post Office continue to ensure that at least the three core services of mails, cash and basic banking, and bill payments are provided within a reasonable distance for customers as defined by the Government-set Access Criteria. This ensures that these services remain easily accessible to all customers.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing a ban on importing goods produced in Israeli settlements which the UK considers to be illegal; and if she will make an estimate of the quantity of goods imported from those areas in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
There are no import sanctions on goods originating from Israeli settlements and no plans to introduce any bans. The UK government has always been clear on this. Under the existing UK-Israel trade agreement, goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements are not entitled to tariff and trade preferences under either the agreement between the UK and Israel, nor the agreement between the UK and the Palestinian Authority. I can confirm that this will not change in the upgraded free trade agreement with Israel.