§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices have(a) closed and (b) reduced opening hours which are located in (i) Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, (ii) the Dumfries and Galloway region and (iii) Scotland in each of the last five years. [33067]
963W
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 5 February 2002]I am informed by Post Office Ltd. that data by country before 1998 are not available and that regional data are not collated in the form requested. Data on reduced hours opening of sub-post offices are not held historically.
The numbers of post offices operating in Scotland over the last three financial years are as follows:
End March Number 1998 2,051 1999 2,026 2000 1,999 2001 1,936 I am also informed by Post Office Ltd. that an on-going revision of data has affected individual country totals.