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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he made the adequacy of Ofcom's regulatory powers for scrutinising Royal Mail's performance.

The Postal Services Act 2011 gives Ofcom robust powers to scrutinise performance of any regulatory requirements it has imposed on Royal Mail, and other operators, and to enforce those requirements, including imposing financial penalties or instituting court proceedings where appropriate. The Government has no plans to seek changes to the Act.

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.