Post Office Closures — Commends the Government's action — 19 Mar 2008 at 18:45

The majority of MPs voted in favour of the motion:^[1]

• This House
• recognises the vital social and economic role of post offices, in particular in rural and deprived urban communities;
• notes the decline in post office customer numbers in recent years and the financial losses of £174 million incurred by the network in 2007;
• further recognises the effect of changes such as direct debit facilities and increased use of the internet for payment and communication;
• commends the Government's action to support the post office network with investment of up to £1.7 billion up until 2011, including an annual subsidy of £150 million;
• further notes that this subsidy did not exist under the last government and that without it thousands more post offices would be under threat; and
• urges the Government to continue working with Post Office Limited to ensure a viable and sustainable network for the future.

This followed a previous vote rejecting a motion to suspend the closure programme during consultation.^[2]

The debate is bisected by the announcement of a deferred division,^[3] making it inconvenient to access on a single page.

• [1] John Hutton MP, House of Commons, 19 March 2008
• [2] Post Office Closures - Suspension for issues to be re-assessed, House of Commons, 19 March 2008
• [3] Deferred division interruption, House of Commons, 19 March 2008

Debate in Parliament | Source |