To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he proposes to take to allow post offices to widen the range of activities and businesses they undertake.

[holding answer 15 June 1993]: Sub-post offices may undertake an almost unlimited range of activities on the private side of their shops. Requests by Post Office Counters Ltd. to widen the range of activities undertaken by them through the post office network are considered on their merits. We have recently announced that Post Office Counters will be allowed to take on work in connection with the national lottery. More generally, we are considering the question of Counters' activities as part of our review of the structure and organisation of the Post Office.