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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Post Office Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020 are planned to be laid before Parliament before 22 July 2020.

The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK, which is why we committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.

Post Office Limited’s Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020 will not be laid before parliament before 22 July 2020. Under the Companies Act, firms have 9 months after the relevant financial year ends to file their accounts, meaning the end of December 2020 for Post Office Limited. Companies House has provided an optional three-month extension of this deadline due to Covid-19. In recent years Post Office Limited has laid its report and accounts before Parliament between September and December.