Postcomm announces new safeguards for management of address information

Postcomm, the UK’s independent postal services regulator, has today announced new safeguards for the future management of the postcode and address data contained in Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF).

PAF lists details of every postal address and postcode in the United Kingdom. As such, it is a very valuable asset for Royal Mail, since many other organisations – including new postal operators, banks, insurance companies and firms offering home delivery – need to use the information it contains.

The four key issues covered in today’s document – “Royal Mail’s future management of PAF” – are:

* The definition of PAF – what information should Royal Mail be obliged to supply? Postcomm considers that ‘PAF data’ is not only made up of postcode details, but also includes other information needed to allow users to identify specific addresses.

* The creation of an advisory board. Royal Mail has agreed to set up an advisory board to represent the views of PAF users, and has already started the recruitment process for the board’s independent chairman.

* Ringfencing of PAF. As competition develops in the mail market – and also with other suppliers of similar address data – it is crucial that Royal Mail ringfences PAF from its other activities, in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

* Profits. There is increasing demand for PAF data from a wide range of organisations, which rely very heavily on the information it provides. This puts Royal Mail in a very powerful position where setting prices is concerned. Although PAF does not fall within the ‘price control’ that Postcomm uses to set a pricing and service quality framework for Royal Mail, the company has agreed to aim for an operating profit margin in the range of 8-10%. If profits exceed this range, the excess would be either returned to customers or reinvested in PAF.

Today’s report follows a three month consultation last year, which asked PAF users for comments on a series of proposals designed to make sure that the database is managed – and made available to other organisations wishing to use it – on fair and reasonable terms. Following the consultation, Postcomm held discussions with Royal Mail, which has agreed to implement all the decisions outlined in the report.

he decision document “Royal Mail’s future management of PAF” is available on Postcomm’s website at www.psc.gov.uk, which also includes further background on the Postcode Address File.

Hard copies are available by post, from 6 Hercules Road, London, SE1 7DB.

Today’s announcement does not affect the way in which consumers may request a postcode change. That process is set out in a Royal Mail code of practice, which is reviewed regularly by Postcomm. The last review was completed in 2004, with the next one scheduled to begin in 2008. More details are available on Postcomm’s website.