18th February 2010
Mr Williams
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
[email address]
Royal Mail Sheffield
[FOI #24898 email]
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[Royal Mail Group request email]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Mr Wil iams
Re: Freedom of Information Request – Internal Review
I am writing in response to your email dated 21st January 2010. In the email you
requested an internal review of Royal Mail Group’s handling of your two requests for
information dated 19th December 2009. Royal Mail Group’s internal review panel has
reviewed the request in line with our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (The
Act) and I am writing to advise you of their decision.
You submitted two requests on 19th December 2009, in which you asked for the following
information:
Request 1
“Please supply any document or policy in relation to the handling of post received from the
postal administration on the Isle of Man.
In particular:
1)
Any fees charged to Isle of Man Post for onwards delivery of items addressed to the
UK
2)
Any fees charged to Isle of Man Post for handling of item destined for international
delivery
3)
The status that items posted on the Isle of Man have within the UK postal system,
e.g. are they treated as first or second class post.”
And;
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 2010 – Page 1 of 5
Cont…
Request 2
“Please supply any document or policy in relation to the handling of post addressed to
premises or PO boxes on the Isle of Man.
In particular:
1)
Any fees payable to Isle of Man Post for onwards delivery of items originating in the
UK
2)
Any fees payable to Isle of Man Post for onwards delivery of items originating from
overseas postal administrations
3)
Any fees charged to Isle of Man Post for handling of items originating from overseas
postal administrations
4)
Which postal administration has responsibility for the transport of items from the UK
to the island?
5)
What transport modes from the UK to the island are used for the different streams
of mail (first class, second class, inbound international)”
Royal Mail Group provided a single response, covering both of your requests, on 20th
January 2010. In that response it was confirmed that information within the scope of your
request is held by Royal Mail Group. This information is recorded in the form of a Letters
Services Agreement between Royal Mail Group Limited and Isle of Man Post Office.
However, this information was withheld under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information
Act – Commercial Interests.
In your request for an internal review you suggested that because Royal Mail Group Ltd is
a government owned company and Isle of Man Post is part of the Isle of Man Government,
it is highly unlikely there would be any commercial harm to either party. The details of the
agreement between Royal Mail Group Limited and Isle of Man Post Office are considered to
be confidential. Isle of Man Post Office has informed us that it would consider disclosure of
this information to be prejudicial to its commercial interests. However, in the review we
have focussed on whether or not disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the
commercial interests of Royal Mail Group.
The agreement with Isle of Man Post Office is just one of many agreements between Royal
Mail and international postal administrations. These contracts are highly commercial and
involve detailed negotiation. Disclosing details of the agreement with Isle of Man Post
Office would be likely to prejudice negotiations between Royal Mail and other postal
administrations. This would be likely to impact on Royal Mail’s position when re-negotiating
these contracts, thus prejudicing its commercial interests.
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 2010 – Page 2 of 5
Cont…
The specific fees which you requested are the subject of a negotiated bilateral contract
between Royal Mail Group Limited and Isle of Man Post Office. The fees cover both
regulated and unregulated products. If the negotiated rates were disclosed to the public,
this would allow Royal Mail Group’s competitors in the unregulated market the opportunity
to offer preferential rates to Isle of Man Post Office, both in respect of what it pays and is
paid for the delivery of relevant items, and therefore disclosure would be likely to prejudice
Royal Mail Group’s commercial interests.
In addition, by knowing the rates and conditions being offered by Royal Mail in this instance,
competitors of Royal Mail in the unregulated mails market would be given an unfair
advantage when negotiating their own contracts with other international postal
administrations. This would enable Royal Mail’s competitors to undercut Royal Mail, to the
detriment of Royal Mail’s business.
In light of the factors set out above, the review panel was satisfied that section 43(2) of the
Act is engaged. Section 43(2) of the Act is subject to the ‘Public Interest Test’ and the
review also considered whether, despite the application of the exemption, the public interest
test favours disclosing the information. The review panel considered the extent to which
disclosure of this agreement would inform the public in relation to the fees charged/paid
and any impact on end user prices. This is balanced by the fact that details of all Royal Mail
pricing are available to customers via our website, Post Office branches or customer
services channels. Further, Royal Mail customers can send mail to Isle of Man for the same
cost as sending mail to UK destinations - as shown at the link below:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=400044&mediaId=92300754
As a publicly owned company there is also public interest in the effective operation and
commercial success of Royal Mail Group. However, that public interest would not be met by
placing Royal Mail Group at a commercial disadvantage in the manner described above.
Royal Mail operates in a competitive market for international postal services and does not
receive public funding to support that activity. As such, there is a reduced public interest in
disclosure of this information. Further, there is a clear public interest in companies such as
Royal Mail being allowed to compete fairly, and in avoiding distortions of the normal
operation of the market – as would be likely to be caused by disclosure of this information.
In addition, Royal Mail’s continued provision of the universal service, which is of great
economic and social benefit, is entirely dependent on the its continuing commercial viability.
As such, there is a strong public interest in Royal Mail being allowed to operate on a level
playing field with its commercial competitors. Therefore, Royal Mail Group believes that the
balance of public interest is best served by maintaining the exemption and withholding the
information.
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 2010 – Page 3 of 5
Cont…
We have considered whether it would be appropriate to provide you with a redacted version
of the of the Letters Services Agreement between Royal Mail Group Limited and Isle of Man
Post Office – with information covered by the exemption under section 43 being removed.
However, due to the large amount of redactions that would be necessary we do not believe
that it would be of any benefit to provide such a document – because the main content and
details of the agreement would be redacted.
However, with the exception of the fees payable to Isle of Man Post Office or Royal Mail for
onwards delivery of mail items, we are able to provide some information in response to the
specific points that you raised in your requests.
In Request 1 part 3 you requested the status that items posted on the Isle of Man have
within the UK postal system (“e.g. are they treated as first or second class post”). The Isle of
Man Post Office provides details of their own delivery standards on their website -
http://www.gov.im/post/postal/delivery.xml - this states that standard mail for delivery in
the UK leaves the island by air and enters the 1st class mail stream in Royal Mail.
In Request 2 part 4 you asked which postal administration has responsibility for the
transport of items from the UK to the island. Royal Mail will transport mail items to an
agreed point of handover, or access point on the Isle of Man.
Finally, in Request 2 part 5 you asked what transport modes from the UK to the island are
used for the different streams of mail. The standard transport mode from the UK to the
Isle of Man for all streams of mail is by air.
I hope that this suitably explains our reasons for withholding some information and that the
additional information provided in this response is helpful to you. In the event that you are
not satisfied with this reply, you also have a right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner who can be contacted at the following address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
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 2010 – Page 4 of 5
Cont…
Yours sincerely
Colin Young
Freedom of Information Manager
[email address]
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 2010 – Page 5 of 5
