To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform further to the letter of 26 January sent by Lord Hanningfield to his Department, what assessment he has made of whether steps taken by Essex County Council constitute a serious expression of interest to financially support post offices; and whether such steps require Post Office Ltd to delay physical closure of existing branches in Essex to allow (a) funding and (b) a contract to be put in place. (186108)

[holding answer 18 February 2008]: I have spoken to both Post Office Ltd. and to Essex county council about this issue and encouraged dialogue, but it is for Post Office Ltd. and any interested local authority to work through the details of any proposal for councils to fund post office branches scheduled for closure under the network change programme.