Postal Services Bill

Anas Sarwar Excerpts

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

The commitment that I have given today is what the hon. Gentleman and his Select Committee were seeking. That is what I understood from his very well-informed remarks earlier. Now that he has intervened, let me tell him that his point about mobile vans is dealt with in Government amendment 5, which I hope we will get to. There are currently 39 such vans serving 240 communities, and Post Office Ltd has no plans to increase its fleet of vans. I hope that gives him some reassurance on his very detailed point.

[Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)]

Following on from the hon. Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) in wanting to pin you down—the Minister that is, not you, Mr Evans—if the legal advice from civil servants is so clear, will the Minister publish it?

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Gentleman is a new Member of the House and he might know that there are various protocols on publishing legal advice.

Our policies on post offices will ensure that people will continue to see their local post office as the natural and convenient place to access Royal Mail products, and Royal Mail’s management continues to see the Post Office as its retail partner of choice. It is by attracting customers for all types of services that the Post Office will ensure its future success. With this Government’s funding and support, as laid out in our policy document, which sets out a whole range of ideas for new Government services, we will be able to achieve those objectives.

The new clause tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester is well intentioned and I have always been impressed by how he, the voice of Colchester, campaigns for his constituents, not least for important services such as local post offices. I hope that I have reassured him that his new clause is not needed to support our precious post office network.