Royal Mail performance
Royal Mail has missed delivery targets for several years, and has been fined by Ofcom.
Royal Mail provides the universal postal service, essentially the ‘one price goes anywhere’ principle of postal services to all UK addresses.
Over the last few years, it has failed to meet some of its key targets, for example for deliveries.
Royal MailRoyal Mail is the UK’s universal postal service provider. It is a private company, and is part of International Distribution Services plc.
Royal Mail was privatised and separated from the Post Office following the Postal Services Act 2011.
Obligations on Royal MailRoyal Mail provides the universal postal service. It must deliver letters to every address in the UK, six days a week, at a uniform price, and parcels five days a week.
The legal basis for the universal postal service is the Postal Services Act 2011 and the universal postal service order. Detailed requirements are set out in conditions made by the postal regulator Ofcom.
PerformanceRoyal Mail’s performance is measured against quality of service targets which are set out by Ofcom.
Most of these targets are not being achieved. For example in 2025/26, Royal Mail:
- delivered 75.7% of first class mail within one working day of collection – against a target of 93%
- delivered 90.2% of second class mail within three working days of collection – against a target of 98.5%
- completed 77.4% of daily delivery routes – against a target of 99.9%.
Royal Mail publishes quarterly performance reports showing how well it is doing against its targets. The figures above are from the full year 2025/26 report.
Ofcom also publishes annual monitoring reports for postal services, with more detailed analysis and information.
Performance in local areasAlongside the national figures, Royal Mail also has a target for local performance – 91.5% of first class mail should be delivered the next working day in each of 118 postcode areas that cover most of the UK. (There is an exception for the HS, KW and ZE postcode areas as they are more remote.)
Royal Mail did not achieve this target in any of the postcode areas in 2025/26.
Performance in each postcode area is given in Royal Mail quarterly performance reports.
Changes to requirementsIn July 2025, Ofcom announced changes that would:
- allow Royal Mail to deliver second class letters on alternate weekdays (but still within three working days of collection), and not on Saturdays. First class letters would still be delivered six days a week.
- relax the main targets for when post has to be delivered – for first class mail, the target would change from 93% to 90% being delivered next-day, and for second class mail, the target would change from 98.5% to 95% delivered within three days.
- add new backstop targets – for first class mail, 99% would have to be delivered within three days, and for second class mail, 99% would have to be delivered within five days.
The new targets apply from 2026/27.
This follows a ‘national debate’ on the future of the universal postal service, and consumer research work by Ofcom. In the consumer research it found that most postal users did not need six days a week delivery for the majority of letters, provided a next day delivery service continues to be available for some letters.
Responses Royal MailRoyal Mail has said that "We recognise our service hasn’t always been the standard our customers rightly expect and we’re determined to do better."
In a March 2026 letter to the Business and Trade select committee [pdf], it said:
everyone at Royal Mail is working relentlessly to improve quality of service. But the complexity of the situation we face cannot be overlooked. Fixing quality of service, sustainably, requires structural change and the deployment of our new delivery model is critical.
At the time of writing, we are in discussions with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) regarding the detailed deployment plan for this new delivery model.
In April 2026, Royal Mail published a Quality of Service Improvement Plan. This sets out current actions to improve performance, such as targeted support for the worst performing delivery offices. It also sets out a timetable for rolling out the new delivery model, which will see second-class letters delivered on alternate weekdays in certain areas. Royal Mail say they anticipate meeting their regulated quality of service targets by April 2027.
OfcomOfcom, the regulator, has fined Royal Mail for its performance:
Ofcom said that it is "imperative that the company turns round its performance if it is to rebuild the trust of the public" and that "we will continue to hold [Royal Mail] to account for its unacceptable performance to date".
It has opened an investigation into Royal Mail's delivery performance in 2025/26.
In July 2025, it changed requirements on Royal Mail, as set out above.
GovernmentThe government has said that it remains "absolutely committed to the universal postal service, which is an essential part of our economic infrastructure" and that it "will continue to hold Royal Mail to account, will support strong and independent regulation by Ofcom and will press urgently for the improvements that customers rightly expect to see".
Discussion and debate in ParliamentIn May 2026, the Business and Trade committee published a report on The regulation of postal services. The committee concluded that "Ofcom needs to reset its approach to regulating of postal services".
See the links for:
- Westminster Hall debate on Royal Mail: Performance on 18 March 2026
- Other debates, statements and urgent questions since the 2024 election
- Questions that have been asked in Parliament since the 2024 general election
Royal Mail’s Personal complaints process page sets out its procedure for complaints.
This includes details of what to do if someone is not happy with the initial response to a complaint, and when the alternative dispute resolution service POSTRS can become involved.
Ofcom does not investigate individual complaints about postal services but does have a page on complaining about Royal Mail.
Information is also available from Citizens Advice.
For information on problems with parcel deliveries by companies other than Royal Mail, see the Library briefing Problems with parcel deliveries.