Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much and what proportion of fees paid by banks to the Post Office Limited have been paid to sub-postmasters in the most recent period for which figures are available.
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices 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.
The Government welcomes the development of banking services at post offices and the recently announced increased fees for postmasters. Payments to the Post Office and to postmasters under the Banking Framework agreement are commercially confidential and cannot be publicly disclosed.