Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with Ofcom on the future of Royal Mail's delivery of the Articles for the Blind service.

Section 31 of the Postal Services Act 2011 outlines the minimum requirements of the universal postal service and includes the requirement that free-of-charge postal services are provided to people who are blind or partially sighted.

Earlier this year, I met representatives of Ofcom, who reasserted their commitment to ensuring that the universal postal service meets the reasonable needs of users. The Government has no current plans to change the minimum requirements set out in the legislation.