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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the 4-week suspension of Royal Mail’s quality of service targets over Christmas 2022.

Royal Mail’s quality of service targets for the delivery of universal postal services are set by Ofcom under its regulatory framework which includes an exemption from meeting performance targets during the Christmas period (defined as the first Monday of December until the first working day after the following New Year public holiday). It requires Royal Mail to notify Ofcom and the consumer advocacy bodies and publish, no later than two months from the end of each Christmas period, its performance during that period.

In its recent review of postal regulation, Ofcom decided to retain the exemption as it considered that its current approach remained appropriate.