To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether those served by outreach post offices and non-commercial post office outlets will count as part of the 90 per cent. of the population to be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet in the access criteria set by Post Office Ltd. (153868)

In measuring compliance with the access criterion that 90 per cent. of the UK population be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet, proximity to all categories of post office including outreach sites will be taken into account.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what minimum level of service provision will be required of post office outlets for the 90 per cent. of the population who are to be within one mile of their nearest outlet. (153896)

Decisions about local service offerings and opening hours at post offices are a matter for Post Office Ltd. and local sub-postmasters, reflecting the needs and demand in local communities. It is not appropriate to seek to set national standards for matters which are best considered at local level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether Post Office Ltd is considering the use of church premises for new post offices to replace some of the post offices that are to be closed in rural communities. (153931)

Post Office Ltd will consider any premises which are suitably located and accessible as prospective sites in areas where new or outreach post offices are to be established.