Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what legal powers her Department holds to intervene in matters relating to the sale or transfer of assets within the postal service sector.

Post Office recently announced that it will be moving to a fully-franchised network. Transitioning to a franchise model will help in tackling the losses that directly managed branches incur on a sustainable basis, as this is expected to result in over £100 million of savings for the company over the next five years.  This aligns with Post Office’s commitment to deliver a New Deal for Postmasters, as the savings created by these changes will put Post Office in a better position to increase remuneration for postmasters across the UK.  This decision regarding the network, and decisions around the circumstances of each directly managed branch are operational matters for Post Office.

The Government’s Green Paper, due to be published later this year, will ask the public what they want to see from a modern Post Office network. The Green Paper is about a long-term vision for the Post Office, not about operational decisions related to individual branches.