Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure timely postal deliveries by Royal Mail.

Last year, I met the CEOs of Royal Mail and its parent company and raised concerns about Royal Mail’s performance. They reported continued targeted action to improve reliability. I will continue to raise concerns with Royal Mail if the company’s quality of service does not improve.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.

In October last year, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for failing to meet its quality of service targets and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and implement a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.