08 December 2009
Mr Jonathan Sheppard
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
By Email: [FOI #16602 email]
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[Royal Mail Group request email]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Mr Sheppard
Re: Request for Internal Review
I am writing in response to your email dated 14th September 2009 in which you requested
an Internal Review of Royal Mail Group’s response to your request for information under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Royal Mail Group’s internal review panel has reviewed the request and I am writing to
advise you of their decision. We aim to complete al internal reviews within 20 working
days if possible, and no later than 40 working days, unfortunately this was not possible in
this case. I must therefore apologise for the length of time taken to respond to this and the
separate request for internal review which you submitted on the same date. I am very
sorry for any inconvenience caused by these delays.
In your request dated 07th August 2009, you asked the following question:
“…how many items entering the UK have been subject to the Royal Mail handling fee (£8)
for the financial year 2008/09 or the most recent financial year available?”
Our reply was dated 10th September 2009. This response should have been issued no later
than 20 working days following the date of receipt and I must apologise therefore, that we
failed to comply with section 10 (1) of the Act on this occasion.
In our reply we confirmed that we do hold information relating to the number of items
subject to the handling fee – we hold this information for the 2008/09 financial year. This
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2009– Page 1 of 3
Cont…
information was withheld under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act; on the
basis that disclosure would be likely to cause prejudice to the commercial interests of Royal
Mail.
You wrote in your request for an internal review that you believe that stating that this is an
issue of commercial confidentiality is somewhat misleading. The review panel therefore
considered whether section 43 (2) had been correctly applied in this case.
As we explained in our original response; international mail is an unregulated and highly
competitive product. There are a number of other companies operating in direct
competition with Royal Mail in this market place, who transport parcels into the UK and
complete the customs process. These companies have to base their own prices for customs
clearance services upon their own costs and the volume of items they handle – they do not
have access to the volume of items handled by Royal Mail. The belief of our people working
in our International function is that, if given access to this information, Royal Mail
competitors would be likely to amend their own prices in order to target a % market share
of these international items. This would prejudice the commercial interests of Royal Mail
and the review panel agreed that such prejudice was therefore likely if the information was
disclosed. We therefore believe that section 43 (2) does apply to the information you
requested.
Section 43(2) of FOIA is subject to the ‘Public Interest Test’ and the review panel also
considered whether, despite the application of the exemption, the public interest test
favours disclosing the information. We do not consider that release of this information
would inform the public about the effective management or operation of Royal Mail services
or in increase openness and accountability in public affairs. We do however, consider there
to be very strong public interest in a commercially viable Royal Mail. There is a real and
direct public interest in protecting the commercial interests of Royal Mail Group as a publicly
owned company operating in a highly competitive mails market subject to full competition.
Any prejudice to the commercial interests of Royal Mail Group would ultimately prejudice
the interests of the public that owns it. Consequently, the review panel agreed that the
balance of public interest overal is in favour of withholding the information. We therefore
consider that the decision to withhold this information under section 43(2) of the Freedom
of Information Act was correct.
I hope that this suitable explains our reasons for withholding the information you requested
on this occasion but, if you have any concerns or further requests please do contact us. In
the event that you are not satisfied with this reply, you do have a right to appeal to the
Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2009– Page 2 of 3
Cont…
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Colin Young
Freedom of Information Manager
Company Secretary's Office
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2009– Page 3 of 3
