To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much Royal Mail receives in allowances for pension deficit recovery under its price control agreement with Postcomm. (263667)

[holding answer 13 March 2009]: Postcomm included an allowance for Royal Mail to recover £288 million per annum from customers by way of price increases, increasing at inflation, for meeting pension deficit payments in the 2006-10 price control period.

Actual deficit funding payments have been lower than were allowed in the price control, being £243 million in 2006-07, and £284 million in 2007-08 for the Royal Mail Group as a whole.

Details of the rationale for the £288 million per annum allowance were given in Postcomm's Final Proposals document, which is available on its website at:

http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/policyandconsultations/documentsbydate/2005/Final_proposals_061205.pdf