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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether public money has been used to pay costs involved in the ongoing dispute with postmasters since 2000.

The courts are the right place to hear and resolve what are long-standing issues between some postmasters and the Post Office. While this matter rests with the courts it is inappropriate for the Government to comment further. The legal defence of this litigation and the costs involved in doing so are being handled by Post Office Ltd, which operates as an independent, commercial business within the strategic parameters set by Government.