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Post Offices: Rural Areas

Question for Department for Business and Trade

UIN 37273, tabled on 11 March 2025

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help protect Post Office services in rural areas.

Answered on

19 March 2025

We recognise the key role Post Offices play in their communities, and branches in some rural areas are particularly important as the Post Office often acts 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.