Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the appropriateness of Ofcom’s month-long suspension of Royal Mail’s quality of service targets.

As the independent regulator, it is for Ofcom to explain the decisions it takes on the regulatory framework.

In its 2022 review of postal regulation, Ofcom decided to retain Royal Mail’s exemption from meeting performance targets during the Christmas period as it considered that its current approach remained appropriate. In coming to its decision, Ofcom carefully considered consultation responses including from consumer bodies but reserves the right to propose further action in this area if necessary.

Ofcom considers Royal Mail’s performance against its quality of service targets and will continue to closely monitor performance for 2022-23 which it has been clear should no longer be impacted by Covid-19.