Ofcom “gathering evidence on how the universal service might need to evolve”
Ofcom, the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries, is laying the groundwork for providing advice on how the universal postal service might need to evolve to better reflect the changing needs of postal users.
The universal service has been unchanged since the implementation of the current framework under the Postal Services Act 2011. However, consumer demand for postal services has changed substantially, and continues to do so.
Ofcom is gathering evidence on how the universal service might need to evolve to more closely meet consumer needs.
It will set out this evidence in detail later this year – explaining how demand is changing, the challenges and costs of delivering the universal service, potential options for change in the future and how these might be managed to ensure smooth transition to any future arrangements. Ofcom encourages input from interested parties after our publication.
It would ultimately be for the UK Government and Parliament to determine whether any changes are needed to the minimum requirements of the universal service.
Ofcom’s role
As the postal regulator, Ofcom’s job is to ensure that a universal postal service is provided, taking account of the need for that service to be financially sustainable and efficient. When making regulation, we must make sure we understand postal users’ needs.
We can also specify additional features of the universal service, such as requiring the choice of a First Class and Second Class service, and setting Royal Mail enforceable targets to deliver a certain proportion of items on time each year.
The last few years have demonstrated the importance of postal services, but the way people use them is changing, and we expect these trends to continue.
Letters remain important to many of us, particularly those who have difficulty relying on electronic communications and transactions. However, the number of letters we send and receive has declined by 46% over the last decade, as people and businesses increasingly use digital alternatives. And as the number of letters delivered each day falls, the average cost of delivery is increasing.
At the same time, parcel deliveries have become increasingly important to our daily lives and consumers’ expectations of them are changing.
