Mr. David McRedmond:

We have closed very few post offices in the past couple of years. We did a few years ago. To strengthen the post office network, we closed 150 post offices in 2018. We did that very publicly and it strengthened the network. The postmasters benefited from it. Indeed, many postmasters supported it. Some would have been against it but many supported it.

We are constantly working to maintain a stronger network and a good network. I would say one thing about this. The bit that is missing is, when I talk about the Government paying more for services, the Government could not digitise those were it not for the networks. Banks could not digitise because they are obliged to contact customers. It is because of the postmasters who look after those who do not want digital that those services can be done, so it is a very effective spend by the State to support the network.