Post Offices

Lord Hanningfield
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their assessment of the number of Post Offices which may close if Paypoint was contracted to run the Post Office card account; and [HL6187]

When they will make an announcement regarding the future of the Post Office card account; and whether they intend to make this announcement to Parliament. [HL6188]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton)
The Government announced on 13 November 2008 that it had decided to cancel the current procurement exercise for a successor to the Post Office card account. Instead another contract will be awarded to Post Office Ltd. This contract will initially run from April 2010 to the end of March 2015.