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Terms of reference for the independent review of the postal services sector

  1. To assess the impacts to date of liberalisation of the UK postal services market, including on the Royal Mail, alternative carriers and consumers.
  2. To explore trends in future market development and the likely impact of these on Royal Mail, alternative carriers and consumers.
  3. To consider how to maintain the Universal Service Obligation in the light of trends and market developments identified.


The review panel's principles

The panel was independent of Government and had no pre-conceived views about the way forward for the postal sector. They wanted the review to:

  1. Generate an active and constructive debate across the wide range of stakeholders with an interest in postal services - This includes: consumers and their representatives; companies providing postal services; trades unions; political parties; government departments; the devolved administrations; and regulators. The panel established which of these issues stakeholders believed were most important for the review and built an understanding of their perspective. Members of the panel held meetings with a wide range of range of organisations, inviting organisations to provide evidence at meetings and at organised seminars debating particular issues throughout the review.

  2. Establish a body of evidence which has widespread support as a basis for considering options for the future - The panel issued a general call for evidence from interested organisations when the review was announced. As evidence began arriving, from the end of March 2008, they held meetings to establish where there was already consensus, explore differences of opinion (whether about assumptions, methodology or data), and commissioned further work where necessary to fill in gaps in their understanding.

  3. Reach conclusions based on an objective analysis of various options - The Government asked for a comprehensive review and set out broad terms of reference. The panel believed it was important to have a clear methodology - a logical framework which defined boundaries for the review, and which explained how evidence would be used to generate and test options for the future.

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