§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what definition he uses of avoidable closure of a post office in the context of the Government's formal requirement on the post office to maintain the rural network. [149189]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonIn the context of the Government's formal requirement on the post office to maintain the rural network and to prevent any avoidable closures of rural post offices, an unavoidable closure is when the post office can find no one suitable to take over from a560W departing subpostmaster, where no suitable premises remain available or where an associated retail business is no longer commercially viable.
§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the number of sub post offices that(a) have closed and (b) will close as a result of compulsory computerisation. [149188]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonMy Department has made no such estimates and I understand from the post office that they do not have historical data on the reasons for subpostmasters' resignations. Internal post office research in the form of exit interviews with subpostmasters has been undertaken in recent months and I understand that, from the sample of subpostmasters interviewed, 6 per cent. cited computerisation of the post office network as the reason for resignation. However, a subpostmaster's resignation, for whatever reason, does not automatically mean that the post office will close. The post office always advertise a vacancy in order to seek a suitable applicant to take over the office.