§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if Parcelforce will continue to have preferential customs clearance facilities following the implementation of the Post Office White Paper proposals. [104250]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThere are no plans to make changes to Post Office customs procedures in the forthcoming Post Office Bill. Customs are in discussion with Parcelforce concerning international clearance facilities at their new Coventry depot.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if Parcelforce's compulsory purchase powers will be retained following the implementation of the Post Office White Paper. [104249]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonIt is intended that these powers will be retained by the Post Office but extended to other licensed Universal Service Providers.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what progress the Post Office has made in implementing the cost-based accounting system proposed in the Post Office White Paper; [104179]
(2) what assessment he has made of progress made by the Post Office towards meeting the February 2000 deadline for the implementation of transparent accounting. [104178]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe Post Office is making good progress in implementing the necessary cost-based accounting systems and it is expected that the EC Directive 97/67 deadline requirements for transparent accounting will be met.