Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Royal Mail is not currently meeting its first-class and second-class letter delivery targets; and what remedial action they intend to take in response.

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 its investigation into quality of service performance for 2022-23, Ofcom found Royal Mail had contravened its service conditions and therefore imposed a £5.6 million fine on the business. Ofcom has committed to closely monitoring Royal Mail's performance and the steps it is taking to return delivery offices to pre-pandemic practices.