Consultation: Review of the universal postal service and other postal regulation

Statement published 10 July 2025

Following our Consultation, extensive engagement with stakeholders and consumer research, we are making changes to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) on Royal Mail and corresponding changes to Royal Mail’s obligation to provide access to its letter network.

This Statement sets out our decisions to support a modernised universal service. We are protecting the interests of consumers by making a limited set of changes that will have a significant positive impact on the financial sustainability of the universal service and support its continued provision. Realising the benefits of reform will now depend on successful implementation by Royal Mail.

Changes to the delivery frequency of Second Class letters

Currently the USO requires the delivery of First Class and Second Class letters six days a week (Monday to Saturday). We have decided to remove the requirement on Royal Mail to deliver Second Class letters six days a week and allow it to deliver such letters on alternate weekdays (Monday to Friday). This change reflects the fact that postal users no longer need two six-day-a-week services to meet their reasonable needs and is intended to support the financial sustainability of the universal service.

The requirements for delivery of First Class letters six days a week will remain unchanged.

The current parcels USO specification will also remain unchanged.

Changes to quality of service targets

Royal Mail is required to meet specific quality of service targets to incentivise it to deliver a high standard of service.

We are introducing new ‘tail of mail’ targets which provide additional targets for delivery of items which have not met the ‘on time’ headline target. This reflects the importance of a reliable service and provides a further incentive for Royal Mail to more predictably deliver mail without lengthy delays. For First Class mail, 99% will have to be delivered within three working days. For Second Class mail, 99% will have to be delivered within five working days.

We are changing the headline target for First Class mail from 93% to 90% delivered next working day, and the headline target for Second Class mail from 98.5% to 95% delivered within three working days, to better reflect people’s preferences and support financial sustainability. We are also resetting the related First Class postcode area target from 91.5% to 87% delivered next working day. These targets remain high by international standards.

Changes to Access letters obligation

Most letters sent today are ‘bulk mail’, sent by large organisations such as banks, government departments, the NHS or local authorities. These letters are sent outside of the universal service but use the same network. To support competition in this market, we require Royal Mail to provide access to its letters network, meaning it must deliver letters collected by other postal operators. To realise the benefits of USO reform, changes are also needed to the access obligations on Royal Mail to ensure it can operate the same alternate weekday delivery service for the vast majority of mail. Our decisions aim to enable this while continuing to support a competitive bulk mail market that meets the needs of large organisations and their customers.

• Royal Mail is introducing a new access service to be delivered on alternate weekdays, which would deliver letters within three weekdays (D+3) after the day of collection from the sender. We will regulate this new service in the same way that we currently regulate existing access services.
• We will continue to regulate the existing D+2 access service for priority bulk mail, at least while the market responds to reform.
• We will remove Saturday delivery from D+5 access services.