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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will stop the closure of post offices and their relocation to WHSmith branches.

The Government recognises the important role that post offices play in communities across the country. That is why we made a Manifesto commitment to safeguard the Post Office network and have invested over £2 billion since 2010. As a result, the post office network is at its most stable in decades at over 11,500 branches and 99.7% of the national population lives within three miles of their nearest branch.

The vast majority of Post Office branches are run on a franchise or agency basis with almost 98% already operating successfully. This business model has helped securing key services on high streets whilst reducing need for taxpayer subsidy.