If he will make a statement on the future funding of the rural post office network.

The Government have committed up to £750 million, subject to state aid clearance, to 2008 to maintain the rural post office network.

I am grateful to the Minister for that answer. I am sure that he agrees that that funding represents only a fraction of the overall economic and social value of the post office network to our rural communities. I hope that he can assure the House that funding arrangements for 2008 onwards will be confirmed by the end of this financial year. Will he confirm that if they are not, the directors of Post Office Ltd. would be obliged to start the process that would lead to the closure of parts of the rural network?

As ever, the Liberal Democrats proceed with all the economic foresight of a myopic fruit bat on these matters. Only they could see 800 rural post offices that serve fewer than five people a day, at an average loss of £6.50 a customer visit, and respond by proposing to create 500 more, as they did at their party conference. As usual, they were defeated, of course, but only because they wanted to pay for that by privatising the Royal Mail.

In recognising the role of rural post offices, may I urge the Minister not to lose sight of the real value of urban sub-post offices, especially in areas of greatest social need?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the urban deprived network is a critical aspect of delivering the Government's agenda on social inclusion. It is essential that people continue to have access to that network, which has been guaranteed through the programme of urban reinvention that the Government initiated.

Recognising the importance of the post office network to rural and urban communities, will the Minister indicate the impact thus far of the switch to the way in which people receive their benefit and pension payments from post offices to banks?

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has raised that important question, because 97 per cent. of benefit recipients now access their payments by direct payment into their bank account. It is often thought that the closures were precipitated by changes in the method of pension payments and the introduction of Post Office card accounts; in fact, they started long before the changes took place. Way back in 1999, a dramatic change had already started in the number of people who received their benefits by other means. Because of the new facilities available to them—internet banking and so on—our constituents have chosen different methods to access their own finances and the Government have responded to that. In 2000, about 70 per cent. of all benefits were paid by order book, but that proportion had already fallen to 57 per cent. by 2003, when the direct payment scheme was launched.