13:40 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Jo Swinson)

The Post Office is also doing much more for government. Over the past two years, the Post Office has won every single government contract it has bid for. It is winning this work competitively, and winning it because it is such a strong partner for government. There is even more that the Post Office can do for government in the future. For example, under the existing contract with the passport office, the Post Office is discussing the introduction of new in-branch services which would allow the majority of customers to apply for their passports digitally, without the need for any supporting paper forms. The intention is to introduce those services from the middle of 2014. The Department of Energy and Climate Change recently announced that it will work with the Post Office to signpost elderly and vulnerable people to the 500 volunteers being trained by the big energy saving network to help people to find ways to cut their bills.

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