§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. 195W Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Mr. Fraser) of 30 October 2000, Official Report, column 224W, if he will provide a breakdown of the 1,183 sub-post office closures by (a) region and (b) urban/rural status. [136707]
§ Mr. ByersA detailed Post Office check of their original estimate of post office closures in the first half of their current financial year has confirmed that the actual figure is 34 less than their estimate. Accordingly the net total of post office closures since the end of March 1997 is 1,149.
The 1,149 closures between the end of March 1997 and the end of September 2000 comprised 823 rural offices (defined as offices located in communities of less than 6,300 inhabitants) and 326 urban offices.
Since the end of March 2000 the Post Office network is no longer organised on the basis of regions but on the basis of territories.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list, by region, the number of sub-post office managers and proprietors who, during the past three months, have submitted notice of their intention to close their sub-post office; what the corresponding number was in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.[137939]
§ Mr. ByersI am informed by the Post Office that closure decisions are not taken by sub-postmasters.
§ Mr. RuffleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices closed in Suffolk(a) from May to December 1997, (b) in 1998, (c) in 1999 and (d) from January. [138414]
§ Mr. Alan Johnson[holding answer 14 November 2000]: I understand from the Post Office that figures are not available in the form requested.