Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of Royal Mail’s failure to meet its Universal Service Obligation delivery targets in each of the past three years.

The government has been clear that Royal Mail’s service has not been good enough.

Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for assessing Royal Mail’s compliance with Universal Service Obligation delivery targets. Following investigations into Royal Mail’s performance, Ofcom has taken enforcement action, including issuing financial penalties, where it found that service levels were not met without sufficient justification. It issued a fine of £5.6m for 2022/23, a fine of £10.5m for 2023/24 and a fine of £21m for 2024/25.