Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on patients receiving letters from the NHS of changes to the universal service obligation.

Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, is responsible for ensuring that the universal postal service meets the reasonable needs of customers as well as being financially sustainable and efficient. The Government does not have a role in Ofcom’s regulatory decisions.

The Government expects Ofcom to take full account of users’ needs, including users of important public services, in assessing the feedback on its recent Call for Inputs.

The Government will consider any recommendations that Ofcom puts forward, but Ministers are not currently minded to introduce new legislation to change the obligations on postal deliveries.