13th May 2010
Mr Ganesh Sittampalam
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
Email: [FOI #30669 email]
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[Royal Mail Group request email]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Mr Sittampalam
Re: Freedom of Information Act - Request for Internal Review
I am writing in response to your email dated 13th April 2010 in which you requested a
review of Royal Mail Group’s response to your request for information dated 12th March
2010. Royal Mail Group’s internal review panel has reviewed this request in line with our
obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and I am writing to inform you of its
decision. You requested the following information:
“For either the town of St Neots or the PE19 postal area, whichever is most convenient,
please could you provide a list of all current agreements you have to deliver unaddressed
mail?
“For each such agreement, please list the following:
1)
Name of company or organisation the mail is from
2)
Schedule of delivery (e.g. once per week, once on the 30th April, etc)
3)
Expiry date of agreement
4)
Scope of delivery, if not the entire area”
In our reply dated 13th April 2010, we confirmed that Royal Mail does hold information
relevant to your request. In your request you referred to “current agreements”; we
identified all Door to Door deliveries scheduled for delivery in the PE19 postal district in the
month from the w/c Monday 8 March. This information includes the customer name,
postcode area, district and sector, the ‘drop’ or delivery date and the contract end date. This
information was withheld under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act on the
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…
basis that disclosure would provide Royal Mail’s competitors with details of its current levels
of business and its customers and therefore be likely to prejudice the commercial interests
of Royal Mail.
After reviewing your request the internal review panel decided that the information was
correctly withheld. However, after considering published guidance from the Information
Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the review panel determined that the information in question is
exempt under section 43(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 43(1)
Information is exempt information if it constitutes a trade secret.
The ICO guidance on this exemption sets out the following questions to be asked when
determining whether information is a trade secret:
1. Is the information used for the purpose of trade?
2. Is it obvious from the nature of the information or, if not, has the owner made it
clear that he or she considers releasing the information would cause them harm or
be advantageous to their rivals?
3. Is the information already known?
4. How easy would it be for competitors to discover or reproduce the information
themselves?
The information in question is clearly held for the purposes of trade in relation to Royal
Mail’s Door to Door service for unaddressed mail. The information would obviously be
advantageous to Royal Mail’s rivals and is not known outside of Royal Mail. Further it would
not be possible for competitors to discover the information without accessing Royal Mail’s
own business information. The internal review panel therefore decided that 43(1) does
apply to the requested information.
Where the information requested constitutes a trade secret, there is no need to consider the
harm its release may cause. However, in the event that section 43(1) was found to not
apply, Royal Mail remains of the opinion that section 43(2) would be engaged. Disclosure of
business information which is advantageous to Royal Mail’s competitors would clearly be
likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Royal Mail.
Section 43 is subject to the ‘Public Interest Test’ and the internal review panel also
considered whether, despite the application of the exemption; there is an overriding public
interest in providing this information. When considering the public interest in this
information, the panel took into account the points raised in your email dated 13th April
2010.
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
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You suggested that Royal Mail occupies a uniquely privileged position in the direct mail
market:
“You argue that Royal Mail should be able to "compete fairly in an open market". But Royal
Mail occupies an uniquely privileged position in the Door-to-Door advertising market, by
virtue of being the monopoly mail provider; the incremental costs of delivering junk mail are
much lower than for any other provider as the costs of visiting every house are already
covered or mostly covered by normal mail items. There is thus a strong public interest in
opening up information about the details of the impact your service has on competitors
who lack this subsidy.”
The Direct Mail market is highly competitive and Royal Mail faces competition from other
companies as well as other forms of advertising. All of Royal Mail rivals have their own
delivery networks and infrastructures which enable them to deliver unaddressed mail or
provide competing forms of advertising and Royal Mail only delivers around 25% of the total
volume of unaddressed mail items in the United Kingdom. It is not correct that the costs of
delivering unaddressed mail is covered, or mostly covered, by other types of mail. Royal
Mail is reliant on revenue from Direct Mail to supplement the decline in mail volumes.
Further, the requested information would not allow any comparison of Royal Mail and its
rivals in the direct mail market – the information would reveal only details of Royal Mail’s
business and its customers. Royal Mail is not of the view therefore, that disclosure of this
information would in any way promote fair competition.
You also stated that the information was requested in order to make an informed decision
as to whether or not to opt out of receiving Door to Door mail items:
“In addition you mention the ability to be able to opt-out of the delivery of junk mail. It was
precisely to be able to make an informed decision as to whether to opt out or not that I
made this request, and thus your belief that "the requested information would [not] further
inform the public" is simply wrong.”
Royal Mail recognises that not everyone wishes to receive unaddressed mail and for this
reason it provides customers with an opt-out service for unaddressed mail. As stated
above, Royal Mail only delivers about 25% of the total volume of unaddressed mail items in
the United Kingdom. Royal Mail informs all households who express an interest in the opt
out service of this and that opting out of Royal Mail Door to Door deliveries will not
necessarily reduce direct mail by a significant amount due to the other carriers in the
market place.
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
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Opting out from Royal Mail Door to Door stops all unaddressed items from being delivered
by Royal Mail. In choosing whether to opt out, customers can of course consider the volume
and type of unaddressed mail that has been delivered to their household. Royal Mail does
not believe that providing details of its current and future business and customers would
significantly inform a customer’s choice.
In line with ICO guidance, the internal review panel considered whether access to this
information would:
• further the understanding of, and participation in the debate of issues of the day;
• facilitate the accountability and transparency of public authorities for decisions taken
by them;
• facilitate accountability and transparency in the spending of public money;
• al ow individuals to understand decisions made by public authorities affecting their
lives and, in some cases, assist individuals in chal enging those decisions;
• bring to light information affecting public safety.
The information in question does not relate to public spending, decision making or public
safety. The information related only to commercial information about Royal Mail’s business
and customers who have paid for Royal Mail services. Royal Mail is of the view that
disclosure of this specific information would not significantly inform or benefit anyone other
than by informing Royal Mail’s competitors.
Royal Mail believes that there is significant public interest in protecting the commercial
interests of Royal Mail group as a publicly owned company. As stated above, Royal Mail
relies on the revenue that it receives from unaddressed mail and it would not be in the
public interest to give competitors an unfair advantage in this market. Royal Mail considers
that there is strong public interest in protecting the commercial interests of Royal Mail in
order to safeguard the provision of universal mail services.
Overall Royal Mail does not consider that the public interest in accessing this information
outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption, and therefore believes that the
information should be withheld.
I am sorry that your request cannot be met but hope that this suitably explains our reasons
for withholding the information in question. 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
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…
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Colin Young
Freedom of Information Manager
[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 5 of 5
