Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will undertake a review of the services available at rural post office branches, and what steps they will take to ensure the long-term viability of rural post offices.

Post Offices play an important role in communities across the country, and particularly in rural areas where some branches act as a community hub. We are listening carefully to stakeholders to ensure the whole network, including these important rural branches, is sustainable.

The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens. Government's minimum access criteria for Post Offices mean that 99% of the UK population must be within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90% must be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet.