Did you mean "most Office" speaker:Mel Stride?
Mel Stride: ...executive of Barclays just yesterday and that he is working very hard on this issue. None the less, in many communities, including those in my constituency, where the last bank has gone, it is the Post Office to which we turn. I pay tribute briefly to Stuart Rogers, the postmaster at Ashburton post office and a leading member of the National Federation of SubPostmasters, who has done such...
Mel Stride: ...that would otherwise have been hollowed out and become unavailable due to the absence of banks. I take the issue extremely seriously. The Government have generally protected the size of the post office network; there are nearly 13,000 branches across the country, and the vast majority of people live within 1 mile of a branch. How the Post Office is handling that network might be a rather...
Mel Stride: ...cases, which is there for local authorities to use at their discretion. We doubled the level of rural rate relief, from 50% to 100%, to help small communities where perhaps there is just one pub, post office or petrol station. A number of right hon. and hon. Members mentioned the discount of one third brought in at the last Budget. I congratulate my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for...
Mel Stride: ...commercial decisions; they are not for the Government. However, we do recognise the difficulties that they bring. That is why we are committed, among other measures, to banking facilities within a Post Office network—[Interruption.]
Mel Stride: The hon. Lady raises a specific case of a closure of a post office in her constituency. I believe the Post Office is engaged in that particular matter but, on the general matter of post offices, they do provide a number of financial services, supported by the banking framework agreement, such that 99% of individual customers will have access for their financial needs and 95% of businesses...
Mel Stride: ...this Government and are able to provide a lot of the financial services that individuals and businesses require. In rural areas, for example, 99% of residents are within three miles of the nearest post office.
Mel Stride: ...options they have locally to continue to access banking services. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board. Government also supports the Post Office’s banking framework agreement which enables 99% of personal and 95% of banks’ business customers to conduct their everyday banking services at a Post Office counter via its...
Mel Stride: The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting idea, but I would argue that that is already effectively in practice in the form of the post office: post offices are able to deal with the customers of the major banks, to take cash, and to offer banking services—albeit not the full range, but certainly the most basic and most important to local communities—and, as I said earlier, there are more...
Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are not able to identify the exact number of people who paid their self assessment tax demand at a branch of the post office in the last 12 months. Individuals can make payments to HMRC multiple times a year, and sometimes do so using different payment methods.
Mel Stride: The facility to pay HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) at the Post Office in its current format is being withdrawn by the service provider Santander. HMRC are not the only users of this service and had no influence on this decision or the timing of the withdrawal.