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Postal Services Bill [HL]

The amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, raise important questions and we look forward to hearing the Secretary of State’s response. It is right that we should look at how best to support the network and encourage its expansion, modernisation and diversification. A strong board with, as the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, said, clear objectives, is, of course, a necessity as much for the Post Office as for Royal Mail, and I have a lot of sympathy with his concerns in this area. The noble Lord also referred to regulation. An interesting point arises here about the regulation of post offices. The Bill is, of course, largely focused on Royal Mail and Part 3 concerns Ofcom’s responsibilities over Royal Mail, and potentially private sector providers of services within this sector. However, I believe that the reorganisation of Royal Mail Group will—the Secretary of State will correct me if I am wrong—bring Post Office Limited out of the remit of Postcomm. If I am right, it is important that we hear his reasons for excluding post offices from Ofcom’s remit, and the Government’s plans for the ongoing regulation of Post Office Limited. Of course, we will go into these issues in much more detail when we reach Part 3, but, as was made clear on earlier amendments, we certainly support the noble Lord’s concerns that Post Office Limited should not be forgotten.