Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Conclusion 6
2nd Report - The regulation of postal services
Published 22 May 2026
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Royal Mail All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We are concerned that Ofcom’s regulatory approach has for years now failed to bring about the required step change in Royal Mail’s performance. Three consecutive years of fines and a demand for an “urgent” improvement plan were not enough, as both short-term improvements and long-term USO reform became ensnared in an industrial dispute between Royal Mail and the CWU. It appears to have taken the Secretary of State’s direct 9 intervention to resolve this crisis. We are grateful to the Secretary of State for his action, but he is not the statutory regulator of the postal service. (Conclusion, Paragraph 19)
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, 2nd Report - The regulation of postal services (HC 131), 22 May 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 20 October 2026 (deadline 22 July 2026).