Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has had discussions with the Post Office on the potential closure of the post office in Victoria Street, Grimsby; and if he will take steps to prohibit the closure of this and other high-street branches.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has had no discussion with Post Office Limited on the potential closure of the post office in Victoria Street, Grimsby. However the Secretary of State and I have met with the Post Office Chair, Nigel Railton, to discuss his proposals for the future of the company. No decision to close any or all of the remaining DMBs have been taken. Post Office are in dialogue with the Unions and postmaster representative bodies about future options for the DMBs.

Although Post Office has the freedom to make commercial decisions regarding the composition of its network, Government sets the parameters for the Post Office to operate in. Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria which require 99% of the UK population to be within three miles of their nearest Post Office outlet. The access criteria ensure that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.