§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will respond to the recommendations of the PostComm inquiry into the future of the rural post office network. [159936]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe recent responses to the PostComm discussion paper on preserving access to post offices in rural areas will feed into PostComm's annual report on the rural post office network and their advice to the Government in the best way to channel financial assistance to rural post offices due later in the year. The Government will then respond to the report's findings and to PostComm's advice.
§ Miss McIntosh:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the rural post office network. [153643]
§ Mr. Alan Johnson[pursuant to his reply, 22 March 2001, c. 480W]: The reversal of the recent year-on-year trend of increasing rural closures is both welcome and important. However, I now realise that I was mistaken in claiming, as I did in response to the hon. Lady's supplementary question, that the 20 per cent. reduction in rural post office closures in the nine months to December 2000 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year was the first reduction of any sort in the past 18 years. I apologise for the error.