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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what funding has been made available by the Post Office Ltd to pay for the outcome of the sub-postmasters pay review; and whether that funding is to be additional money to pay sub-postmasters.

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 postmasters pay review is being conducted internally by Post Office Limited. Post Office Limited has returned to profitability after 16 years of losses and the Company is now exploring ways to share the growing income more widely with postmasters.