Royal Mail

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts
Monday 8th June 2026

(1 month, 3 weeks ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Stockwood Portrait Lord Stockwood (Lab)
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It is really important not to conflate Royal Mail delivery and the Post Office, but Ofcom is committed to the universal post offering and the targets, so I will have to write to the noble Lord on this particular question, because this was the extent of what I researched for this particular Answer.

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Portrait Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
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Does the noble Lord share my concern that perhaps the postal service and the Royal Mail are focusing too much on parcel delivery and not enough on a universal letters service that plays to elderly populations in rural areas? If we go fully digitalised and if we lose the postal service, it would be a very retrograde step for that group of people.

Lord Stockwood Portrait Lord Stockwood (Lab)
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The noble Baroness raises a really important point about making sure the universal service offering is not to the detriment of people who are remote or not digital. Its CEO has confirmed that Royal Mail is focused on improving all aspects of its service across postage and parcels. The Government will be putting pressure on Ofcom to ensure that Royal Mail improves all its services without detriment to any particular user group.