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Royal Mail

I repeat that the company will remain publicly owned in line with the Government's manifesto. The hon. Lady is right to say that access headroom has been controversial, and that people have raised a number of issues about it. It is a matter for the regulator, and in the context of the regulation change proposed by Hooper, it would be a matter for Ofcom in the future. It is important to remind the House that Hooper concludes firmly that the key challenge facing the company is not from other postal companies, but from other technologies. That is what lies behind a drop in the volume of mail of some 5 million items a day, and that drop is not just taking place in the UK, but in many other countries for precisely the same reason.