Cont…

P John
/ Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR

www.royalmail.com

Dear Sir / Madam

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing in response to your request for information which was submitted online on 04th October and received by Royal Mail on 05th October 2009. We have considered your request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You requested the following information:

“I'm interested in the orange phosphor dot patterns currently added to UK envelopes during mechanised cancelling/sorting. I understand these pattern represent address/sorting data read using optical character recognition (OCR). - Please could you,”

·  “Tell me what the formal name for the orange phosphor dot encoding system is?”

·  “Provide a full technical specification for the coding patterns?”

This orange barcode printed by Royal Mail is the Royal Mail Four State Code. The bar codes are printed by Royal Mail in orange fluorescent ink on the face of letters. The upper row contains data on the machine which first processes the mail item, the day of the month, the 1/2 hr period within the day and the item number within that 1/2 hour period. This data generates a code which is unique within a one month period and enables Royal Mail to associate the delivery information with the correct mail piece during a second stage of processing. The lower row contains the delivery Postcode information together with information that represents the actual delivery point.

I can confirm that Royal Mail does hold encryption files which are required to encode and decode the Internal Four State Code. However, I am unable to disclose these files to you. Royal Mail believes that this information constitutes a trade secret and is therefore, exempt from disclosure under section 43(1) of the Freedom of Information Act. This is on the basis that disclosure of the information could give an advantage to other postal operators. Royal Mail developed and deployed these mathematical encryption techniques at considerable cost. Other postal operators utilise this concept and suppliers sell solutions in this area. However, these will all differ from Royal Mail’s implementation. Our software could therefore benefit competitors in the postal market who do have access to a solution as reliable as the one used by Royal Mail. The luminescent ink, high performing readers and this special code used by Royal Mail in the Tag and Route codes, allow codes printed on difficult backgrounds to still be read successfully. Consequently, Royal Mail’s solution, and the information you have request, would desirable to other postal operators in competition with Royal Mail.

Section 43(1) of the Freedom of Information Act is subject to the ‘public interest test’. And we have considered therefore whether, despite the application of this exemption, the public interest test favours disclosing the requested information.

We recognise that there is public interest in the quality of delivery services provided by Royal Mail. However the information recorded in these barcodes documents only the time that the item was first sorted by Royal Mail’s machine. This is not a measure of quality of service. Royal Mail is regulated by Postcomm and provides detailed quality of service information to monitor performance against service targets agreed by the regulator. This information is published online by Royal Mail. In light of the performance information already published, we do not believe that the requested information would increase openness or the fair measurement of Royal Mail’s delivery performance.

In relation to the date and time that an item was processed, Royal Mail recognises that this information could be of some use in private disputes about the date on which a letter was sent. However, we believe that the legitimate interest in protecting the commercial value of a trade secret outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We do not consider that release of this technical information, would inform the public about the effective management or operation of Royal Mail services or in any way increase openness and accountability in public affairs.

I am sorry that we cannot provide the information you have requested on this occasion. If you are not satisfied with this response, you do have a right of appeal. 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 you decide to appeal and are still not satisfied with our response you also have a right to 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

Yours sincerely
John Cere
Freedom of Information Case Officer

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 2009– Page 2 of 3