Postcomm looks to a strong future for postal services
Postcomm, the independent regulator, is today asking for views on the future of postal services in the UK. The responses will help Postcomm frame its regulatory strategy in the lead up to 2010 and beyond.
“A key part of Postcomm’s job is to protect the universal service. Postal liberalisation has already started to provide benefits for postal users in the shape of innovative services from new operators and through Royal Mail raising its performance to record levels in terms of its quality of service. Building on this, we are now seeking views to help us shape the future of postal regulation,” said Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm’s chairman.
“Now is the time to ask some fundamental questions – such as ensuring we continue to meet people’s needs for a quality universal postal service against the background of some significant trends such as the increasing use of emails and on-line shopping. We are also asking questions about whether Postcomm, whilst still promoting deregulation, can do more to ensure customers benefit from competition.”
A consultation document published today seeks views from all interested parties – domestic customers, Royal Mail, other postal operators, major business users, suppliers, small businesses and customer groups. Their responses, together with targeted research, will form the basis of a review by Postcomm of its regulatory strategy.
During the consultation, Postcomm will hold individual meetings with interested parties and in October will host a seminar in London on the future of mail services. The workshop will be chaired by Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan, who until last year was chairman of the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee.
Notes
Postcomm’s current price and service quality control on Royal Mail – which among other things sets the price of stamps – runs until 2010. Today’s document asks for views on what comes next.
The sort of questions it poses are:
• How might the market evolve in the next 5-10 years?
o Will it grow?
o How are customers’ needs likely to develop?
o How will operators’ business strategies change in the next 5-10 years?
• What will postal users want from the one-price-goes-anywhere universal postal service in the future, given its costs – and what is the best way to secure it?
o How will customers’ needs from the universal service change over the next 5-10 years and what will this mean for regulation?
o How will email and online shopping affect customers’ postal requirements?
o Are there further steps that Postcomm can take to best secure the universal service in the medium to long-term?
• What is the best long-term framework for effective competition and regulation?
o Does Royal Mail’s access service, by which it allows other operators to pay for access to its “final mile” delivery network, help or hinder the development of full collection and delivery services from rival operators?
o Should Postcomm consider more ring-fencing and separation within Royal Mail’s business?
o Whilst still promoting deregulation, what more can Postcomm do to make sure customers benefit from competition?
Postcomm will evaluate all the responses and combine them with some research we are doing to frame our future regulatory strategy. We will publish feedback on the consultation in 2007
The consultation document, Postcomm’s Strategy Review. The Postal Market –2010 and Beyond: Key Questions for Stakeholders, is published today on Postcomm’s website www.psc.gov.uk Printed copies will shortly be available from Postcomm at 6 Hercules Road, London SE1 7DB. Responses are requested by 9 November 2006
