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77774

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Postal Services: Competition
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Ofcom has conducted any analysis of regulatory options to protect the universal postal service in the event of a significant increase in end-to-end competition.
	tabling member printed	Lord Whitty
	uin	HL1071
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The regulatory options to protect the universal service are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Parliament has given Ofcom the primary statutory duty to secure the provision of the universal service and the powers and tools its needs to do so.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ofcom has carried out a consultation on end-to-end competition in the postal services sector and published a Guidance paper on the use of its regulatory options and the circumstances under which it would intervene to protect the universal service from any serious threat from competition. More information about Ofcom’s consultation on end-to-end competition and its Guidance (“Final Guidance on Ofcom’s approach to assessing the impact on the universal service”) can be found on its website (<a href="http://www.ofcom.org.uk/" target="_blank">www.ofcom.org.uk</a>).</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 28/07/2014 14:41:38 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2444 label Biography information for Lord Whitty

77775

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Postal Services: Competition
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how long it would take Ofcom to undertake a review of the impact of the increase in end-to-end competition on the universal postal service.
	tabling member printed	Lord Whitty
	uin	HL1072
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Ofcom has set out its approach towards carrying out a full assessment of end-to-end competition in its Guidance published in March 2013 (“Final Guidance on Ofcom’s approach to assessing the impact on the universal service”). Although it has not set out a specific timescale for a full review, Ofcom has in place a continuous monitoring regime and access to key confidential data from Royal Mail and other postal operators which would enable it to anticipate any potential threat to the universal service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ofcom has said that they are keeping market developments under close monthly review and if this monitoring identified cause for concern they would be able to carry out a review very quickly.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>More information about Ofcom’s regulatory framework can be found on Ofcom’s website (<a href="http://www.ofcom.org.uk/" target="_blank">www.ofcom.org.uk</a>).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 28/07/2014 14:42:36 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2444 label Biography information for Lord Whitty

77776

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Postal Services: Competition
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their calculation of the percentage of United Kingdom addressees needed to be reached by end-to-end postal delivery companies other than Royal Mail before there is a threat to the financial sustainability of the universal postal service.
	tabling member printed	Lord Whitty
	uin	HL1073
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>Ofcom as the regulator for postal services has the primary statutory duty of protecting the universal service and the regulatory powers to intervene if the universal service is ever at risk.b</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ofcom has set out the circumstances under which it would intervene to protect the universal service from any serious threat from competition in their publication: “Final Guidance on Ofcom’s approach to assessing the impact on the universal service”.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ofcom’s assessment would consider the financial sustainability of the universal postal service and the need for the universal service provider to be able to earn a reasonable commercial rate of return in connection with the provision of the universal service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The percentage of addresses covered by end-to-end competitors to Royal Mail would clearly be a factor that Ofcom would consider, but as a part of a wider range of factors. Ofcom has therefore not set a threshold of end-to-end delivery coverage by alternative postal operators to determine a threat to the Universal Service. At the present time, end-to-end competition accounts for less than 0.5% of letter volumes in the United Kingdom.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 24/07/2014 15:10:04 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2444 label Biography information for Lord Whitty