To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items of correspondence his Department sent (a) by Royal Mail and (b) by other commercial delivery services in each of the last two years; and what the reasons were for the use of services other than Royal Mail. (264534)

DWP postal volumes delivered by Royal Mail Group over the past two years were approximately 200 million items to customers (2008-09) and were approximately similar volumes in the previous financial year (2007-08).

DWP postal volumes delivered by other postal providers over the same period are as follows:

UK Mail—volume 95 million items (2008-09) and 80 million items (2007-08) 2nd class postal output to DWP customers from DWP’s regional delivery centres (RDCs) at Washington and Norcross sites.; the final mile is still delivered by Royal Mail;

Spring Global Mail—volume 2 million items (2008-09) and 1.9 million items (2007-08) for international mail to DWP customers.

Since the liberalisation of the UK mail market in January 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions has taken the opportunity to source alternative suppliers (who must hold appropriate licences from Postcomm) to deliver UK postal services via Down Stream Access (DSA). The National Audit Office (NAO) also endorses the use of DSA across public sector postal requirements.

DWP remains committed to using Royal Mail postal services and we have developed a range of joint initiatives to further enhance our relationship and deliver postal efficiencies. DWP is also monitoring the developing postal marketplace for best value for money opportunities for taxpayers