Direction relating to exceptions to the postal deliveries

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Direction relating to exceptions to the postal deliveries Universal Service Obligation and approval of alternative delivery points

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consul ... -statement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Statement published 18|12|13
Summary

1.1 The Postal Services Act 2011 ("the Act") sets out that as part of the universal postal service in the United Kingdom, there must be a delivery every Monday to Saturday of letters, and every Monday to Friday of other postal packets to the home or premises of every person or to delivery points approved by Ofcom. Ofcom secures this by designating Royal Mail as the universal service provider ("USP") and by imposing on it a designated USP condition ("DUSP condition") which, among other things, requires it to make daily deliveries.

1.2 However, Section 33(2)(b) of the Act states that the obligation to make daily deliveries does not need to be met in such geographical conditions or other circumstances as Ofcom consider to be exceptional. Ofcom can specify the circumstances we consider to be exceptional by making a direction.

1.3 The universal service obligation, fulfilled by Royal Mail, is central to the role that post plays in society and is relied upon by many residential users and small and medium businesses. Ofcom's Review of Postal Users' Needs, published in March 2013, found that post is highly valued by residential users and businesses across the UK. Ofcom takes the issue of exceptions to Royal Mail's obligations to provide those services very seriously.

1.4 The existing direction, which was made by Ofcom on 23 February 2012 (the "Ofcom Deliveries Direction"), expires on 31 December 2013. At the same time as Ofcom made the Ofcom Deliveries Direction we also issued a formal approval under DUSP condition 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 regarding approval of identifiable delivery points for delivery of postal packets where delivery to the original addressee cannot be made (the "existing approval").

1.5 We consider that there is an ongoing need to have clear rules and procedures that govern the exceptions to the delivery obligations ("delivery exceptions"). Therefore, on 21 October 2013, we published a consultation ("the October consultation") with our proposed direction for deliveries and our proposed changes to the existing approval due to the close links between the direction for deliveries and the approval.

1.6 The October consultation identified a number of areas where improvements could be made to the direction for deliveries and the approval relating to alternative delivery points. We have fully considered the three responses to the October consultation in making our decision on delivery exceptions and approvals.

1.7 We intend to make the direction and approval broadly as specified in the October consultation. However, in light of the responses and our further analysis, we have made the following minor amendments to our original proposals:

Third party blockages: to clarify that where there is an exception under the category "difficulty of access (other)" this could be due to factors other than those caused by the act or default of persons controlling access;

Reviews: to only require Royal Mail to carry out reviews of exceptions on "reasonable" request to reduce the risk of vexatious requests but ensure exceptions are subject to scrutiny;

Reviews: to limit the potential costs Royal Mail is exposed to, whilst still providing the necessary protection for, and cover the needs of, users, when providing assistance for users who by reason of age, disability, language or ill health may be disadvantaged when seeking a review of an exception. The proposed direction did not have a limit and therefore may not have been proportionate;

Reporting: to remove the requirement for Royal Mail to report annually on exceptions which result from a customer request. This returns us to the current situation, as such exceptions are not currently reported on.

1.8 This statement comprises our analysis of the consultation responses, the formal notification of our direction specifying the circumstances we consider to be exceptional and the formal notification of our approval of alternative delivery points.

1.9 This direction and approval take effect on 31 December 2013 and will remain in place unless otherwise revoked.

1.10 We have also, today, published a statement on exceptions to the postal collections universal service obligation.

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Direction relating to exceptions to the postal collections Universal Service Obligation and minor amendment to Designated Universal Service Provider Condition 1


http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consul ... -statement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Statement published 18|12|13

Summary

1.1 The Postal Services Act 2011 ("the Act") sets out that as part of the universal service in the United Kingdom, there must be a collection every Monday to Saturday of letters, and every Monday to Friday of other postal packets, from public access points. Ofcom secures this by designating Royal Mail as the universal service provider and by imposing on it a designated Universal Service Provider condition ("DUSP condition") which, among other things, requires it to provide daily collections.

1.2 However, Section 33(3)(b) of the Act states that the obligation to make daily collections does not need to be met in such geographical conditions or other circumstances as Ofcom consider to be exceptional. Ofcom can specify the circumstances we consider to be exceptional by making a direction.

1.3 The universal service obligation, fulfilled by Royal Mail, is central to the role that post plays in society and is relied upon by many residential users and small and medium businesses. Ofcom's 'Review of Postal Users' Needs', published in March 2013, found that post is highly valued by residential users and businesses across the UK. Ofcom takes the issue of exceptions to Royal Mail's obligations to provide those services very seriously.

1.4 The existing direction, which was made by Postcomm on 7 December 2010, expires on 31 December 2013. We consider that there is an ongoing need to have clear rules and procedures that govern the exceptions to the collections obligations ("collections exceptions"). Therefore, on 21 October 2013, we published a consultation ("the October consultation") with our proposed direction for collections. We also consulted on a minor change to DUSP Condition 1.8, to ensure that collection points that are subject to exceptional circumstances do not count towards compliance with the access point (postbox) density obligation.

1.5 The October consultation identified a number of areas where improvements could be made to the direction for collections. We have fully considered the three responses to the October consultation in making our decision on collection exceptions and the amendment to DUSP 1.8.

1.6 We intend to make the direction broadly as specified in the October consultation. However, in light of the responses and our further analysis, we have made the following amendments to our original proposals:

Third party blockages: to allow for the rare circumstances when Royal Mail is unable to identify or locate the third party from whom it would need to request access to the premises but to also require Royal Mail to retain evidence of its attempts to contact the relevant third parties.

Information on post boxes: to reduce the risk of damage/vandalism to post boxes by allowing Royal Mail to not list the details of alternative access points if it has made an anticipatory closure e.g. when it seals boxes on or around the 5 November for health and safety reasons.

Reviews: to limit the potential costs Royal Mail is exposed to, whilst still providing the necessary protection for and covering the needs of users, when providing assistance for users who by reason of age, disability, language or ill health may be disadvantaged when seeking a review of an exception. The proposed direction did not have a limit and therefore may not have been proportionate.

1.7 In light of the responses and our further analysis, we have decided to amend DUSP 1.8 in a way that is more limited than we proposed in order to clarify when an excepted access point counts towards the density calculation. We have concluded that exceptions where collections are made once a week or more will continue to count towards the density obligation. However, exceptions which are subject to all week exceptions and where those circumstances have persisted for twelve months will not count towards the density obligation.

1.8 This statement comprises our analysis of the consultation responses, the formal notification of our direction specifying the circumstances we consider to be exceptional and the formal notification of our amendment of DUSP 1.8

1.9 This direction and amendment to DUSP 1.8 will take effect on 31 December 2013 and will remain in place unless otherwise revoked.

1.10 Today we have also published a statement on exceptions to the postal deliveries universal service obligation.