§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many post offices and sub-post offices closed in the United Kingdom and in each region and county each year since 1988.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: The number of post offices closed in the United Kingdom in each year since 1988 is as follows:
Year Number 1988–89 76 1989–90 242 1990–91 372 1991–92 303 The majority of these closures were in rural areas where, due to the decline in the number of village shops, it has not been possible to find suitable candidates for subpostmasterships. A breakdown of this information by region or by county could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the value of the privately owned assets that form the branch service network of Post Office Counters Ltd.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: Neither the Government nor the Post Office have any records of the privately owned assets within the branch network of Post Office Counters Ltd. and have no authoritative basis on which to estimate the value of those assets.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the Government Departments and other agencies having contracts with Post Office Counters Ltd.; and what is the duration of the contract period in each case.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: The following Government Department and agencies have contracts with Post Office Counters Ltd.:
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Department/Agency Duration of current contract (years) Department for National Savings 3 Benefits Agency 3 United Kingdom Passport Agency 2 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 3 In addition Post Office Counters has contracts with the BBC, Girobank, Royal Mail, Parcelforce, British Telecom, British Gas, regional and Scottish electricity companies and some 100 local authorities. The duration of the current contracts with these bodies varies between six months and five years.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of franchises for franchised post offices and the income generated from the sale of franchises.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: The cost of each franchise for franchised post offices varies with the circumstances of sale. Cumulative income from the sale of franchises to December 1992 amounted to some £5.5 million.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the profit or loss on Post Office Counters Ltd. in each year since the separation of its accounts; and what was the value of the direct assets of Post Office Counters in each of these years.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: The profits after taxation and net assets of Post Office Counters Ltd. in each year since the separation of its accounts were as follows:
Year Profits after taxation £ million Net Assets £ million 1986–87 13.6 455.4 1987–88 20.9 493.7 1988–89 31.3 517.9 1989–90 10.7 1251.7 1990–91 22.0 244.0 1991–92 16.0 254.0 1 As part of the introduction of return on capital employed targets, a special dividend, representing funds accumulated as a result of previous years' activities and amounting to £276.3 million, was paid to the holding company.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many post offices and sub-post offices, showing community post offices separately, opened in the United Kingdom and in each region and county in each year since 1988.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: The number of post offices opened in the United Kingdom in each year since 1988 is as follows:
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Year Number 1988–89 35 1989–90 21 1990–91 63 1991–92 1157 1 includes 74 satellite offices. The number of community and restricted hours offices operating in rural areas at the end of each financial year was as follows:
Community offices Restricted hours March 1989 724 0 March 1990 1,413 23 March 1991 1,511 55 March 1992 1,626 90 A breakdown of this information by region or by county could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the licence fee for new sub-post offices in each year since 1989; and what income those fees generated in each year.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 22 February 1993]: For franchised offices a commercially confidential and individual franchise fee is negotiated with each agency partner. For other new or recited post offices an initial fee equivalent to 12 months' remuneration in England and nine months' remuneration in other parts of the United Kingdom is levied. All rural offices are exempted from paying such fees. Since April 1992 initial fees have no longer been levied on transfer of sub-post offices at their existing site.
The overall yield to Post Office Counters Ltd. from franchise and initial fees has been £3.9 million in 1989–90, £9.6 million in 1990–91 and £10.5 million in 1991–92.