To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the findings of the consultations on proposed post office closures will be published; and if he will extend the consultation period. (170640)

I understand from Post Office Ltd that the consultation period for the east Essex and Suffolk area plan closed on 19 November and that it expects to announce final decisions on its proposals for post office closures and new outreach services on 13 December. No closures will take place until after the Christmas period.

As the Government's response to the national public consultation on the post office network explained, the arguments for a longer local consultation period were considered but the Government decided to confirm their decision on a six-week local consultation period reflecting the approach followed during the latter stages of the urban reinvention programme. The early stages of developing Post Office Ltd’s area plan proposals involve detailed plan development discussions with Postwatch and the involvement of local authorities in advance of formal public consultation. The Government believe that when combined with the subsequent six weeks of public consultation, this enables sufficiently robust consultations to take place at a local area level. We are also mindful of the fact that the organisation representing sub-postmasters argued for a speedy local consultation to minimise uncertainty for sub-postmasters and customers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post offices have closed in each of the 41 area plan areas for each year in which figures are available since 1997. (172711)

This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Copies of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.