Written question asked by Mark Todd (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 April 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 April 2001. It was answered by Alan Johnson (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 April 2001 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his Answer of 2nd April, 366, column 4W, on paypoint terminals, what assessment he has made of the implications for competitiveness in convenient bill payment facilities of the Post Office's policy. - Inc ref to The Performance and Innovation Unit 2000 report 'Counter Revolution Modernising the Post Office Network'.

Answer: Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 2 April 2001, Official Report, column 4W, on paypoint terminals, what assessment he has made of the implications for competitiveness in convenient bill payment facilities of the Post Office's policy. [157631] Mr. Alan Johnson: This issue was reviewed by the Office of Fair Trading in 1998 whose conclusion was that the Post Office policy in this regard neither created a significant issue for consumers nor constituted a barrier to competitors, such as PayPoint, except to a very marginal degree. The Performance and Innovation Unit also examined Post Office policy in this area and concluded in their June 2000 report "Counter Revolution Modernising the Post Office Network" that there were good network sustaining reasons for such a policy.

Secondary information