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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the current postcode system in Britain.

The postcode system is an operational tool, owned and maintained by Royal Mail, with its primary purpose being to ensure the accurate sorting, routing and delivery of customers’ mail. Royal Mail keeps this under review for its purposes.

Postcodes may be used for other purposes including by private and public sector organisations with the terms of access to the postcode address file being regulated by Ofcom, the independent regulator. However, other means of identifying locations for the purposes of deliveries are also available.