Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department offered support to Royal Mail to help resolve the ransomware attack on 10 January 2023; and whether her Department had discussions with Royal Mail on (a) compensation for sub-postmasters who lost trade arising from the ransomware attack and (b) sustaining sub-postmasters income as they offer more services online.

The cyber incident affecting Royal Mail is an operational matter for the business to address. Royal Mail has been working with the National Cyber Security Centre and law enforcement partners to resolve the incident.

The Department has had no discussions with Royal Mail on compensation for sub-postmasters or sustaining sub-postmasters’ income. These are contractual matters for the two businesses.