Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of Royal Mail’s proposed stamp price increases on magazine publishers.

The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s commercial decisions, including the prices of stamps and other services.

In setting its prices, Royal Mail must observe the regulatory framework set by Ofcom which imposes price controls, ‘safeguard caps’, on certain second-class products to ensure a basic universal service is available to all at affordable prices.

Information on Ofcom’s decisions regarding retail price caps on Royal Mail’s universal postal services to apply from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027 is available on its website: www.ofcom.org.uk/post/deliveries-and-charges/consultation-review-of-second-class-safeguard-caps-2024.