To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will undertake a review of the services available at rural post office branches, and what steps they will take to ensure the long-term viability of rural post offices.
Answered on
24 March 2025
Post Offices play an important role in communities across the country, and particularly in rural areas where some branches act as a community hub. We are listening carefully to stakeholders to ensure the whole network, including these important rural branches, is sustainable.
The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens. Government's minimum access criteria for Post Offices mean that 99% of the UK population must be within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90% must be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet.