Interview: Richard Hooper,

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Interview: Richard Hooper, head of government inquiry into future of Royal Mail

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RICHARD HOOPER is not a man to mince his words. The head of the government's inquiry into the future of Royal Mail has made his views on the future of the service clear. Repeatedly.

"As the doctors say of a wasting disease, to start with it is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose; after a time, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure," he told a gathering of postal industry executives two months before his report was published in December 2008.

But despite his graphic analogy, there was a lack of backbench and public support for the sale, and a realisation that a buyer may be tricky to find in the middle of a financial crisis. The Labour government pulled the plug on Hooper's proposals, which included selling a stake in the postal system.

But now the inquiry is to be revived and the man himself will be given a chance to update his main themes.

After publication of that first Royal Mail report, Hooper led a panel to select the provider of news bulletins for the loss-making third channel (ITV and STV) in a competitive tender – however, one of the coalition government's first decisions after the General Election was to scrap the plan.

Before the election, Hooper had to resist calls for the panel to step down and for the plan to be abandoned. "I am not. We are not," he insisted, with characteristic forcefulness.

It was not the first time Hooper had spoken out to defend his work. In 2005, new rules governing what could be shown on TV were announced by media regulator Ofcom, of which he was deputy chairman.

It was proposed that tighter restrictions be applied before the 9pm watershed, but prescriptions on "taste and decency" were to be removed from the regulations. "Freedom of expression" was the principle at the heart of Ofcom's new broadcasting code. Critics were outraged.

Hooper – who was chairman of Ofcom's content board, alongside former BBC children's TV presenter Floella Benjamin and Olympic triple jump gold medallist Jonathan Edwards – was unfazed by the fuss.

"Would we allow programmes about sex with animals? Yes, it's possible," said Hooper. "It all comes down to context. It is about telling the punter what they are going to get before they get it."

Hooper's media career began in the 1960s, with a traineeship at the BBC. There, he was a producer and one of the brains behind the launch of the Open University.

After leaving the broadcaster in the early 1970s, he was involved in the creation of pre-internet electronic information service Prestel, spent some time running BT's Yellow Pages business and headed the doomed pan-European satellite TV company Super Channel.

He helped establish the Radio Authority in 1991 and became chairman in 2000. The organisation was absorbed into Ofcom three years later, along with the Independent Television Commission, the Broadcasting Standards Commission and telecoms watchdog Oftel.

In 2007, Hooper was believed to be on the shortlist to become chairman of the BBC Trust along with advertising executive Chris Powell and Chitra Bharucha, who had been acting chairwoman of the trust since Michael Grade left the BBC. But the post finally went to local government politician and former Central Independent Television director Sir Michael Lyons.

Hooper was previously chairman of academic information provider Informa, but stepped down in 2007 after nine years on the board. During his time, Informa's value grew from £137m (when it was named Lloyd's of London Press before its merger with IBC) to £2.5bn at the time of Hooper's departure.

Now he has a new battle on his hands – albeit one he has witnessed before.

Union leaders have made it quite clear that they do not want the Royal Mail to be privatised or part-privatised. A series of bitter strikes over office closures and job cuts have taken place since the last report and the rekindled sale plans are likely to prompt further disruption.

Hooper is due to give his initial thoughts to ministers later in the summer and a fuller update by early autumn.

The coalition government's resurrection of the Hooper report makes it highly likely that the Royal Mail in its present state will not continue – indeed, Business Secretary Vince Cable said last month he will aim to part-privatise the organisation.

It is believed that the Royal Mail has begun planning for a part-privatisation, with some staff already appointed in preparation for the change.

The group's main pressures come from e-mail, which has siphoned off a good proportion of traditional Royal Mail business.

Despite increased competition in the business post system – companies can choose to have their mail sorted more cheaply companies including TNT, DHL and UK Mail – the Royal Mail usually ends up delivering them, retaining at least a proportion of their business revenues.

If the government implements Hooper's report, retail chain Post Office Ltd is likely to be kept separate, while any stake sold to a third party would be in the Royal Mail Group.

Any sale would only work if the government takes on liability for Royal Mail's pension black hole which has been estimated at around £7bn and heading fast towards £10bn.

If that burden is not lifted, Royal Mail would not be particularly attractive to suitors.

But union leaders cannot see sense in Hooper's proposals, with the Communication Workers' Union claiming they will lead to more cuts in jobs and services.


BACKGROUND

HAVING graduated from Worcester College, Oxford with a first in German and Russian in 1963, Richard Hooper started his media career as a trainee at the BBC. He subsequently spent two years on a fellowship in the US studying educational and communications technology.

In 1970, Hooper helped to found the Open University, then took a pioneering role in the launch of Prestel, a precursor to the internet.

He was appointed chairman of the Radio Authority in 2000 and moved to become deputy chairman of regulator Ofcom when it was created in 2002.

The 69-year-old is married to the Australian-born writer and Antarctica specialist, Meredith Hooper and has three adult children.

[clashcityrocker]

Would we allow programmes about sex with animals? Yes it is possible

Are you sure he doesn't post regularly on here?
Although WTLL could become a lot more interesting.

[smartbhoy]

What does this nugget actually know about the postal service? Of what i can see, not a thing. So who thinks he's qualified?

[fishtank]

What does this nugget actually know about the postal service? Of what i can see, not a thing. So who thinks he's qualified?

He does.

[andy2007]

Even worse, the Government (our sole shareholder) thinks he is too!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

What does this nugget actually know about the postal service? Of what i can see, not a thing. So who thinks he's qualified?

Perhaps, like a certain Postal News Site, he once sent a letter.

[POSTMAN]

What does this nugget actually know about the postal service? Of what i can see, not a thing. So who thinks he's qualified?

Perhaps, like a certain Postal News Site, he once sent a letter.

Ouch!