Policy and consultations
Postcomm's policies are steered by its commissioners, with the day-to-day work of policy formulation and consultation handled by our team of about 40 staff.
The postal market is a key part of the UK economy and changes can have an impact on all mail users - every household and business in the country.
That's why Postcomm's work relies so heavily on far-reaching and thorough consultations about its ideas and suggestions:
- Once a new policy - or change to an existing policy - has been carefully considered by Postcomm staff and approved for consultation by commissioners, it is put out to consultation.
- Consultations on significant changes generally last for at least 90 days, while more routine consultations (on licence applications, for example) usually take 30 days.
- We carefully consider all the responses we receive.
- Sometimes, new information and ideas make a further consultation necessary. In that case, the process is extended, with a new 90 or 30 days given to interested parties to make their views known.
- Once a consultation closes, we take full account of the responses we have received and produce a decision document. Unless marked confidential, we publish responses to our consultations on the Postcomm website.
- Sometimes there may be one aspect of a particular policy issue that needs more consultation. In those cases, we would use our decision document to highlight the relevant areas and continue the process until all key aspects had been taken into account and important questions answered.
- Legal notices and directions relating to particular aspects of a Postcomm policy sometimes follow after a decision document.
For more information on the consultation process, please contact us.
