On 1 October 2011, responsibility for regulation of the postal sector transferred to Ofcom from Postcomm under the Postal Services Act 2011 ("the Act"). Our primary duty is to secure the provision of an efficient universal postal service.
On 27 March 2012 we published a statement - Securing the Universal Postal Service, Decision on the new regulatory framework ("the March 2012 statement").1 In that document we set out the approach that Ofcom was taking to regulating the postal sector. This included the decision to give Royal Mail greater pricing freedom so that it is able to return the universal service to financial sustainability, subject to certain safeguards.
One of these safeguards was an effective and ongoing monitoring regime to track Royal Mail's performance in respect of quality of service and affordability for universal services, and progress on efficiency. As part of the monitoring programme, we also committed to publishing key postal market data in an annual update. This update is intended to set out the key trends in the sector, and in particular, the progress that is being made in terms of securing the provision of the universal service.