13th April 2010
Ganesh Sittampalam
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
By email: [FOI #30669 email]
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[Royal Mail Group request email]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Freedom of Information Request
I am writing in response to your email on the 12th March 2010. We have considered your
request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your email you
requested the following:
“A list of all current agreements Royal Mail has to deliver unaddressed mail for
either the town of St Neots or the PE19 postal area.”
We do hold information relevant to your request; you requested a list of “current”
agreements and we have identified agreements in place at the time of processing your
request for the delivery of unaddressed (Door to Door) mail in the PE postcode area.
However, this information is considered to be commercial y sensitive and we believe its
disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Royal Mail. Therefore, we
consider it to be exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information
Act, Prejudice to Commercial Interests.
Door to Door is an unregulated mail product in the highly competitive direct mail and
advertising markets within which Royal Mail has only a minority share. This information, if
disclosed, would be likely to be used by Royal Mail’s competitors to target their own business
and promotional activity within the area concerned. The information would reveal the
current levels of business in this particular area and enable competitors to target Royal
Mail’s Door to Door customers with their own services therefore prejudicing the commercial
interests of Royal Mail.
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 3
Cont…
This provision is subject to the public interest test. Royal Mail recognises that there is public
interest in the issue of unaddressed mail and that not everyone wishes to receive such mail.
For this reason Royal Mail provides customers with an opt-out service for unaddressed mail
delivered by Royal Mail; details are provided on our websit
e www.royalmail.com. However,
we do not believe that the requested information would further inform the public in relation
to the provision of Door to Door or the opt-out service. The information would be of
interest to other companies offering direct marketing services but we do not believe that it
would serve the interests of the public to place Royal Mail at a commercial disadvantage by
allowing them to make use of Royal Mail’s own business information.
Royal Mail Group is a publicly owned company and there is a real and direct public interest
in its commercial performance. It is very much in the public interest that Royal Mail is able
to compete fairly in an open market, with a strong public interest in maintaining fair
competition and parity of treatment in the postal market. As I have stated above, Door to
Door mail is not regulated by Postcomm and Royal Mail should be allowed to operate on a
level playing field with competitors who would not be required to disclose equivalent
information themselves. Therefore in our view the public interest lies in maintaining this
exemption as we do not consider public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the
likely damage to Royal Mail's commercial interests and prejudice to the postal market that
would result from disclosure.
I am sorry that your request cannot be met on this occasion. If for any reason you are not
satisfied with this response, you do have the right to request a review. If you wish to do so
please set out in writing your grounds of appeal and send to the Head of Information
Compliance, Royal Mail Group, Company Secretary's Office, 100 Victoria Embankment,
LONDON, EC4Y 0HQ. An internal panel will then review the decision, and you will be
advised of the outcome
If, having requested an internal review by Royal Mail, you are still not satisfied with our
response you also have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
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 2 of 3
Cont…
Yours Sincerely
Daniel Tulp
Freedom of Information Case Officer
[Royal Mail Group request email]
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 3
