Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of Royal Mail's failure to meet the Universal Service Obligation.

As the independent regulator for the postal sector, it is for Ofcom to monitor Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation and decide how to respond should Royal Mail fail to meet its obligations.

While the Government does not have a role in Ofcom’s regulatory decisions, I have met the Chief Executive of Royal Mail’s parent company to raise concerns about its performance in delivering the Government’s commitment to a universal postal service which meets consumer needs.

Ofcom fined the business £5.6m for failing to meet its service delivery targets in 2022-23 and continues to monitor Royal Mail’s performance to ensure service issues are addressed as a priority.