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Postal Services: Rural Areas

Asked by Blake StephensonConservativeDepartment for Business and TradeTabled Answered 7 January 2026UIN 101944

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of Royal Mail’s delivery performance in rural areas.

Answered by Blair McDougall

The government is committed to an efficient universal service for users throughout the UK, including those in remote and rural areas.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to monitor Royal Mail’s service standards. The regulator sets Royal Mail enforceable targets to deliver a certain proportion of 1st and 2nd class post on time each year. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified.

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