Cutting services won’t make Royal Mail reliable

Following the Ofcom news today on their potential suggestions for the modernisation of Royal Mail (by which we all know means delivering letters less frequently than the current six days per week), Citizens Advice have pointed out that this won’t make Royal Mail reliable and fix the service problems that plague the postal service.

Currently, I know hardly anyone who consider Royal Mail reliable and say that they alway receives their post daily, most appear to be under the impression that it’s saved up at the Delivery Office and delivered in bulk a couple of times a week. That may or may not be true, but what is a fact is that Royal Mail simply haven’t been hitting their delivery targets according to their own data.

Given Royal Mail has failed to meet its targets for nearly half a decade, it’s clear the current Universal Service Obligation (USO) is falling short of its fundamental purpose: safeguarding consumers. Any changes must prioritise their needs, not Royal Mail’s bottom line. 

We agree that improving reliability is essential. Late post has real consequences – people miss vital medical appointments, legal documents and benefit decisions. 

Cutting services won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable, so we must see proposals to tackle the cause of Royal Mail’s persistent failings. Ofcom and the government have to spell out how any revised USO will start to deliver for the millions of us who rely on it. 

– Morgan Wild, Interim Director of Policy, Citizens Advice

Ofcom have in their release today said that a review of the QoS framework will be needed to ensure that Royal Mail is sufficiently incentivised to deliver a high-quality and reliable service. But in the chart above, Citizens Advice point out just how dire the service has become. It’s especially salient as Citizens Advice have chosen to chart the ever increasing cost of a 1st Class Stamp alongside the abysmal performance delivered.