Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what safeguards are being put in place to ensure that forthcoming changes to the Universal Service Obligation do not further disadvantage constituents who rely on the timely delivery of essential correspondence, including medical notices and legal documents.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ofcom, as the independent regulator, has a statutory duty to secure the provision of a universal service that meets the reasonable needs of users and to consider the impacts of any changes to the Universal Service Obligation. Ofcom conducted extensive research and public consultation ahead of the decision to change the requirements and has stated that it will continue to monitor quality of service closely and hold Royal Mail to account for improving reliability as reforms are implemented.

Royal Mail has publicly committed to publishing a detailed deployment and quality of service improvement plan as soon as possible following the conclusion of its discussions with the Communication Workers Union.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure Royal Mail improves first- and second‑class delivery performance following Ofcom’s recent findings and fines.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ofcom, as the independent regulator, is responsible for setting and enforcing Royal Mail’s service standards. I met senior officials from Ofcom on 11 March.

I met Royal Mail’s CEO, Alistair Cochrane, on 3 February to press him on making demonstrable improvements to service levels as a matter of urgency. I will continue to raise concerns with Royal Mail if the company’s quality of service does not improve.

Royal Mail has publicly committed to publishing a detailed deployment and quality of service improvement plan as soon as possible following the conclusion of its discussions with the Communication Workers Union.

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.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

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.

Staffordshire Day 2026

100th anniversary of the birth of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

St George’s Day 2026

Support for the ceramics industry

Found: These are encapsulated in the letter from David Williams to the Public Accounts Committee.

Found: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Gill Kneller, Chief Executive, East Hampshire District Council David Williams

Found: for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services (CWVYS) Dave Brunton, Senghenydd Youth Drop in Centre David Williams

Found: Chair) Dr Simon Stewart Joanne Sims Shahinoor Shumon Lowri Jones Marco Gil-Cervantes David Williams