To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken in the last year to (a) place its business with the Royal Mail and (b) encourage the use of post offices.
The Scottish Government continues to use the Royal Mail for its mail services. Officials meet regularly with representatives of Royal Mail to discuss a range of issues covering service provision.
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-9304 on 19 February 2008. Postal services are a matter wholly reserved to the UK Government, therefore the Scottish Government''s powers to provide direct support to the Post Office network are extremely limited. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government continues to seek ways to add value.
A number of meetings have taken place between ministers and officials with representatives of Royal Mail Group and Post Office Limited. These meetings primarily dealt with the Network Change Programme and alternative methods of delivering postal services (outreach services), with the aim of ensuring that sustainable business models underpin the Post Office branches that remain after the current Network Change programme is completed.
In addition, ministers have continued to encourage all Community Planning Partners, particularly local authorities, to consider the opportunities to promote their services alongside local Post Offices to aid their viability.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.