§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Post Office regarding the proposals contained in the Performance and 127W Innovation Unit report on the Post Office Network sub-post offices for a new role for Government general practitioners. [137256]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThere have been extensive discussions between my Department and the Post Office on the development of proposals and of a business case for a Government General Practitioner role for the Post Office Network, including sub-post offices.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures his Department is taking to protect suburban post offices from closure in the Sutton and Cheam parliamentary constituency. [136442]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe Government are committed to implementing all 24 of the recommendations in the Performance and Innovation Unit report on modernising the post office network. Many of the measures being undertaken, such as development of Universal Banking services, of a Government General Practitioner role as one stop shop for electronic access to public services and of e-commerce opportunities, will be relevant to all parts of the post office network, whether urban, suburban or rural.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how funds announced in this year's Spending Review for the maintenance of the post office network will be divided between areas defined as rural and areas defined as urban; and to publish the criteria used to define an area as rural or urban. [136716]
§ Mr. Alan Johnson[holding answer 6 November 2000]: As some of the measures for the modernisation and maintenance of the post office network for which funding was allocated in the Spending Review relate to the network as a whole, it is not possible to give a precise division between rural and urban areas. The Government definition of a rural post office is one located in a community of less than 10,000 inhabitants.