John O'Sullivan
Date
30 May 2023
request-979288-
Post Office
Ground Floor
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London EC2Y 9AQ
Classification:
Public
Dear John O'Sullivan,
Freedom of Information Request – FOI2023/00254
I am writing in response to your email received by Post Office Limited (“
Post
Office”) on 10 May, in which you asked:
Chairman Tim Parker said this" “We have ambitious plans to unlock the Post
Office’s potential so that by 2025 we are a sustainable and sought-after
franchise.
"What does POL believe the word "franchise" means and further does it consider
SPM's to be franchise holders?
Is this reflected in the Sub Post Master Contract?
Post Office considers that your email does not contain a request for recorded
information. Although your request can be in the form of a question, rather than a
request for specific documents, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“
FOIA”) does
not oblige an authority to answer a question if this would mean creating new
information or giving an opinion or judgment that is not already recorded, which
applies to the question you have raised.
We would like to also refer you to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
guidance on how to access information from a public authority, which can be found
at the following link
: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/official-information/ Post Office Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered No. 2154540.
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Registered Office Finsbury Dials, 20 Finsbury Street, London, EC2Y 9AQ.
Post Office and the Post Office logo are registered trade marks of Post Office Limited.
postoffice.co.uk
We deal with requests that do not fall under the FOIA through standard business
enquiry processes rather than as a formal request for information, therefore in
answer to your question, there is no fixed definition of a ‘franchise’ arrangement. It is
essentially a commercial concept, there are a variety of different franchise models in
the marketplace, and it is a term we regularly use.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
https://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/en/governance/access-to-information/access-to-
information/
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information about
how we do this can be found on our website at www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
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postoffice.co.uk