Second-class post on Saturdays set to be scrapped
The industry regulatory agency proposes that Royal Post can only provide second -class letters and parcels every other day on two working days instead of the future of protecting the British postal industry on Saturday.
Ofcom said that the general service obligation (USO) must be reforming, because people send less letters every year, but stamp prices continue to rise.
A bonus person means that the Royal Post must publish a post every Saturday (from Monday to Saturday) every Saturday, from Monday to Friday, the package is five.
OFCOM said that the Royal Post should continue to send a first -class letter every Saturday, but the second class will be limited to replacement working days.
Natalie Black, director of OFCOM network and communication group, said: “The world has changed, we are sending one -third of letters.”
“We need to reform postal services to protect their future and ensure that they provide services to the entire UK.”
Regulatory agencies said that the delivery performance of the Royal Post was “not good enough” and pointed out that the company fined more than 16 million pounds on the company in the past 18 months.
However, in the proposed reform, ofcom suggested that the next day’s delivery target for Royal Post’s first -level position was reduced from 93 % to 90 %.
It also proposed that the target to reach the second -class email within three days from 98.5 % to 95 %.
The number of letters from Royal Post has dropped from 20 billion from 2004-15 to 6.6 billion last year.
However, the price of stamps continues to rise. Since 2022, the Royal Post has increased the cost of first -class stamps from 85 to £ 1.65.
It also increased the cost of the second type of stamps in the same period from 66 to 85.
OFCOM said that changing secondary delivery can save the Royal Post between 250 million pounds and £ 425 million.
It said: “This can enable it to improve reliability and re -deploy existing existing resources into the growth areas such as parcels.”
Emma Gilthorpe, chief executive of Royal Post, said these proposals recognize “urgent need to change” to protect the future of USO.
“Our suggestions are formulated after talking with thousands of people. It aims to retain the most important things and maintain a advantage with six days of services and first -class services within the range of Saturdays and Saturdays.
“Reform is crucial to providing modern and reliable postal services for our customers and people.”
But the post office has opposed the change.
A spokesman for the post office said: “Our postman and customers, especially those fragile people, do not want to see the universal service obligations decrease.”
“The proposal announced today has brought greater pressure on the postal director who has faced difficult trade conditions.”
OFCOM initiated consultation New suggestions on the InternetIt was opened to the public until April 10, 2025. It is expected to make a decision in summer.
The parent company of the Royal Post will be sold to the business controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, which is worth £ 3.6 billion. The transaction approved the transaction last year.
The government will maintain a “gold share”, which means that Mr. Credersky’s business will have to approve the ownership of the Royal Post, the position of the headquarters and the right to tax residence.
The Royal Post must also abide by USO, and Mr. Kretinsky promises to do “as long as I am still alive.”
