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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to use money from the public purse for (a) redundancy and (b) compensation payments as a result of the upcoming franchising of post office branches to WHSmith; and what estimate has been made of those payments.

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. Decisions around franchising and staff employment are both operational matters of commercial judgement for the Post Office.