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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money he has allocated for the services of general economic interest referred to in Annex A of the Entrustment Letter used as the basis for the roll out of the Post Office Ltd subsidy.

The term ‘Services of General Economic Interest’ was associated with the EU state aid regime which no longer applies now the UK has left the EU. To date, the term services of general economic services has been used to describe the services provided by the Post Office network including postal services, banking and payment services. For the spending review period April 2021 to March 2022, the Government has maintained the subsidy to the Post Office network at £50 million to safeguard these services in the uncommercial parts of the network. The Government has also allocated a further £177 million which will allow Post Office Ltd to invest for the future and to ensure they remain a vital force on our high streets.