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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Subpostmaster Pay review will include provisions for Subpostmasters to join the Post Office pension scheme.

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 aim of this review is to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the remuneration rate postmasters receive from Post Office products and services. This will enable Post Office Limited to identify products and services that could see an increase in the variable fee paid to postmasters, so that postmasters, who are self-employed business owners, are able to ensure their businesses remain viable. Postmasters are self-employed, independent business owners and are not included in the Post Office Pension Scheme.