Number of Post Office branches in the UK

Dear Mr Burgess

Thank you for your request for information received on 10/11/08, which we
are considering under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the Act you
should expect a reply from us to be sent by 08/12/08, which is twenty
working days from receipt of your request.

If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
that time, we will contact you explaining the reasons for this and giving a
revised date by which we will reply.

If in the mean time you have any questions or would like to contact us
about your request, please contact us by telephone 01252 806513 or
alternatively email or write to us at the address below. Please be assured
that we are giving this our attention and will get back to you shortly.

Yours sincerely

Marie Teasdale
[Royal Mail Group request email]
Freedom of Information Unit
PO Box 341, ALDERSHOT, GU11 1WW

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in England
and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 148 Old Street, LONDON EC1V
9HQ

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Dear Mr Burgess

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request regarding
the number of Post Office® branches stated on the branch locator on our
website, please accept my apologies for the delay in providing a response.

As you may be aware in May 2007, following a national public consultation,
the Government announced a range of proposed measures to modernise and
reshape the Network and put it on a more stable footing for the future.
Post Office Ltd has now put in place a Network Change Programme (“the
Programme”) to implement the measures proposed by the Government. The
Programme involved the compulsory compensated closure of up to 2,500 Post
Office® branches (out of a Network of approximately 14,000 branches), with
the introduction of about 500 service points known as “Outreaches” to
mitigate the impact of the proposed closures.

We have concluded the majority of the local public consultations in
relation to the Programme, however all of the branches which had been
subject to a consultation have not yet proceeded to the closure stage. As
such their details will be available on the branch locator until such time
as they close.

With such a large Network of Post Office® branches there is inevitably a
continuous rate of change. For example Post Office® branches may close,
relocate or reopen:

as a result of a specific and unforeseen event (for example, a flood
or fire causing an outlet to close or a subpostmaster suddenly not
being in a position to run the outlet);
due to the subpostmaster resigning their contract and not making the
premises in which the Post Office is located available to a future
subpostmaster;
because no new subpostmaster can be found willing to replace a
retiring subpostmaster or

In addition to the Network Change Programme and unforeseen changes there
are some branches which we class as “open” which do not appear on the
branch locator. For example there is a branch in Westminster which is
available for anyone visiting the House of Commons in addition to the
Members of Parliament. However this branch is not shown on the branch
locator because it is not open for public access and therefore not
appropriate to be displayed.

Hopefully this has gone some way to explain that the Network of branches is
not “fixed” and as such the numbers of branches open at any one time
fluctuates by the hour. We do however regularly update the Branch locator
every two to three weeks.

I can confirm that as at the end of November we have approximately 12,134
outlets currently open in the Post Office® network (this figure excludes
branches that are temporarily closed for various reasons, see above, and
includes branches where access may be restricted). This does include a
range of access points such as mobile and hosted outreach services.

I hope this information is of use, however, if you're not satisfied with
this response, you do have a right to request an internal review. If you
wish to do so please set out in writing your grounds for doing so and send
to the Head of Information Compliance, Royal Mail House, Company
Secretary's Office, 148 Old Street, LONDON, EC1V 9HQ. An internal panel
will then review the decision, and you will be advised of the outcome.

If, having requested an internal review by Royal Mail Group, you are still
not satisfied with our response you also have a right of appeal to the
Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Peter Johnson
Freedom of Information Advisor
Freedom of Information Unit,

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