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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will take steps to help retain Post Office branches where the Network Transformation Programme funding is insufficient to sustain the branch in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland, and (d) each region of England.

The Government has invested more than £2 billion since 2010 to support the Post Office and as part of that investment the Post Office is required to ensure that the network of branches remains above 11,500 overall and that accessibility targets are met. These parameters ensures that post office services remain accessible to all, with almost 93% of people within a mile and 99.7% within 3 miles of their nearest branch.