Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to (a) engage with and (b) educate postmasters on the practical implications of the potential mutualisation of the Post Office.

My department has been actively engaging postmasters through the Green Paper consultation on the future of the Post Office, which closed earlier this month. This included two postmaster focus groups to ensure postmaster voices are clearly heard on the full range of issues covered by the Green Paper, including mutualisation and other governance options.

The Green Paper itself included information on mutualisation as one potential future ownership model, and the department is continuing to analyse feedback on this and other options. However, it is worth noting that decisions on long-term governance will not be taken until the second volume of Sir Wyn Williams inquiry has been published. In the interim both the department and the Post Office will continue to actively engage Postmasters on this topic.