Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2026 to Question 3528, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness of Ofcom in securing compliance with Universal Service Obligation targets and (b) potential impact of increasing the powers and penalties of Ofcom on securing compliance.

I have been clear that Royal Mail’s performance has not been good enough. I met with Ofcom to raise concerns about Royal Mail’s compliance with its Universal Service Obligation targets.

Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and has the necessary regulatory tools and statutory powers to enforce compliance as an independent regulator. These include the power to impose fines on Royal Mail of up to 10% of its turnover from its postal services business.