Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of Post Office Ltd. on ensuring that equipment provided by (a) Outreach and (b) Sub-Postmasters is adequate.

The Government sets the parameters for the Post Office to operate and asks management to operate commercially at arms-length from Government. BEIS continues to have oversight of the Post Office from a policy perspective and UKGI oversees Post Office’s corporate governance and strategy on behalf of the shareholder.

There remains regular dialogue between BEIS, UKGI and Post Office which includes monthly meetings between Post Office and I, as well as formal quarterly shareholder meetings between BEIS, UKGI and Post Office to discuss financial performance and various live issues. Decisions made by Post Office relating to the operation of branches are regularly discussed, and challenged by the Government when appropriate, through these channels.