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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 6029 on National Federation of Sub-Postmasters: Expenditure, what those specific projects established to support postmasters were; and what the £1.5 million per annum for the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters' annual operations is spent on.

The Government recognises the critical role that post offices and their postmasters play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government 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.

While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Postmasters and specific projects that Post Office Limited have established to support is an operational matter for Post Office Limited.