Royal Mail will have to handiest ship second-class letters each and every different weekday and no longer on Saturdays to offer protection to the way forward for the United Kingdom’s postal trade, the trade regulator has proposed.
Ofcom stated the Common Provider Legal responsibility (USO) should be reformed as folks ship fewer letters annually however stamp costs stay emerging.
The only-price-goes-anywhere USO way Royal Mail has to ship publish six days per week, from Monday to Saturday, and parcels on 5 from Monday to Friday.
Ofcom stated Royal Mail will have to proceed to ship first class letters six days per week however moment category might be restricted to trade weekdays.
“The arena has modified, we are sending a 3rd of the letters we had been two decades in the past,” stated Natalie Black, Ofcom’s workforce director for networks and communications.
“We wish to reform the postal provider to offer protection to its long run and make sure it delivers for the entire of the United Kingdom.”
The regulator stated Royal Mail’s supply efficiency used to be “no longer excellent sufficient”, noting that it has fined the corporate greater than £16m during the last 18 months.
However, some of the reforms it’s proposing, Ofcom has prompt decreasing Royal Mail’s next-day supply goal for first class publish from 93% to 90%.
It has additionally proposed losing the objective for second-class mail arriving inside of 3 days from 98.5% to 95%.
The selection of letters Royal Mail delivers has fallen from a top of 20 billion in 2004-05 to six.6 billion ultimate yr.
Alternatively, the cost of stamps have persisted to upward thrust. Since 2022, Royal Mail has hiked the price of a first-class stamp 5 instances from 85p to £1.65.
It has additionally higher the price of a moment category stamp over the similar duration from 66p to 85p.
Ofcom stated making adjustments to second-class deliveries may just save the loss-making Royal Mail between £250m and £425m.
“This is able to allow it to support reliability and redeploy present assets to enlargement spaces reminiscent of parcels,” it stated.
Emma Gilthorpe, leader govt of Royal Mail, stated the proposals recognise the “pressing want for alternate” to offer protection to the way forward for the USO.
“Our proposal used to be advanced after talking to hundreds of folks and is designed to maintain what issues maximum—keeping up a one-price-goes-anywhere provider and first class deliveries six days per week.
“Reform is the most important to strengthen a contemporary, sustainable, and dependable postal provider for our shoppers, our corporate, and our folks.”
However the Put up Place of job has objected to the adjustments.
“Our postmasters and shoppers, specifically those that are susceptible, don’t need to see a discount within the Common Provider Legal responsibility,” stated a spokesperson for the Put up Place of job.
“The proposals introduced as of late put extra drive on postmasters who’re already dealing with tricky buying and selling prerequisites.”
Ofcom has introduced a session at the new proposals on-line, which is open to the general public till 10 April 2025. A call is anticipated in the summertime.
Royal Mail’s mum or dad corporate is being offered to a industry managed by means of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky in a deal value £3.6bn, after the Labour executive authorized the deal ultimate yr.
The federal government will handle a “golden proportion” which means that Mr Kretinsky’s industry must get popularity of any adjustments to Royal Mail’s possession, the site of its headquarters and its tax residency.
Royal Mail should additionally adhere to the USO, which Mr Kretinsky has pledged he’ll do for “so long as I’m alive”.
