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Postal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, the Government’s first priority is to secure the provision of a strong universal postal service. Clause 28 gives the Bill one of its essential features: the primary duty of Ofcom to secure the provision of the universal service. Amendment 59 tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Belmont, seeks to ensure that the National Consumer Council is explicitly named in the Bill as having to be consulted, along with representatives of small business and other such persons as Ofcom considers appropriate when it carries out its market assessment. Indeed, Ofcom will need to carry out market assessment of the extent to which the market for the provision of postal services in the UK is meeting the reasonable needs of postal services before it proposes any amendment to the universal postal services order. An assurance was put on the record in the debate in Committee on 20 April. That is an assurance which I repeat now, that Ofcom will consult fully and in the normal manner on any changes to the universal postal service and that that will, of course, include consultation with the National Consumer Council. In addition, Section 16 of the Communications Act requires Ofcom to establish and maintain effective arrangements for consultation in the carrying out of its functions which will include postal services. That duty includes ensuring that there is a consumer panel which, among other things, must give advice on the interests of domestic and small business consumers in relation to, among other things, the provision and availability of postal services. Ofcom is a seasoned regulator and, as such, by custom and practice, it regularly consults on major issues of policy across the communications market. That will be no different for the postal service market in the future. Amendment 60 seeks to ensure that the National Consumer Council has a direct role in the evaluation of the universal service by requesting that Royal Mail provide the NCC with such information that will enable it to evaluate the performance of the universal service at a national, regional and local level. Clause 33, headed, ""Publication of information about performance"," already contains some requirements for information on performance of the universal service provider. The clause requires that: ""A designated USP condition must include provision requiring the universal service provider—"""(a) to publish information about the extent to which it is providing specified postal services in accordance with specified standards, and"""(b) to publish annually an independently audited performance report"." As that information will be put into the public domain it will be freely available for the National Consumer Council to see and evaluate on its own accord. In addition, the amendment specifies "national, regional and local", which goes beyond what is already provided for in the Bill. This would impose a large, imprecise and inflexible burden on the designated universal service provider, Royal Mail. In the light of the clarification I have provided, I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Browne, will consider withdrawing the amendment.