HC Deb 06 December 1999 vol 340 cc364-5W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the principal activities of his Department and its agencies which provide business for(a) Crown post offices and (b) other post offices; if he will assess whether the level of business generated in each case is likely to increase or decrease over the next five years; and which new areas of business for post offices are likely to be developed by his Department and its agencies over the same period. [99553]

Mr. Wilson

The Scotland Office currently has no activities which provide business for Crown or other post offices and I do not expect the position to change significantly over the next five years.

No specific areas of new business for post offices are foreseen but the targets for electronic delivery of services (50 per cent. by 2005, 100 per cent. by 2008) represent a real opportunity for additional business for the Post Office network across all public services delivered by central or local Government.