Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of post offices on local communities.

While the Post Office has the commercial freedom to deliver the branch network within the parameters Government sets, the Government fully appreciates the impact a Post Office branch closure can have on a community.

With the largest retail network in the country, there will inevitably be variations in the number of branches open at any one time and any closures are usually outside the control of Post Office. However, the network is not in decline and in fact, more post offices opened last year than closed, and the network is as large today as it has been for five years, with around 11,700 branches open – above the 11,500 target that we set the Post Office.

The Government protects the branch network by setting minimum access criteria to ensure that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a post office. The Government-set access criteria ensures that however the network changes, vital services remain within local reach for all citizens.