§ Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the automation of Post Office business.
§ Mr. Charles Wardle[holding answer 5 December 1994]: The project to automate the payment of benefit at post offices has two main aims: to provide the post office network with a streamlined and modern business infrastructure; and to help the Benefits Agency ensure that losses through payment fraud are minimised. It will put new electronic terminals in 20,000 post offices and will play a key part in supporting an expanded range of products and services for the 28 million people who visit them each week. When complete it will put post offices 580W at the leading edge of using technology to improve services to customers.
Following rigorous evaluation of formal bids from potential suppliers, five have been asked to develop their ideas further. Detailed proposals will be considered and tested over coming months, with a final decision on the choice of system and supplier being made next winter. We expect to see the first offices automated in the spring of 1996.