UK Royal Mail admits to first class failure
The Royal Mail is set to report that its ability to deliver first-class letters the following day has been getting worse, despite its decision to drop the second post.
The company – increasingly the subject of privatisation talk – will admit that in the first three months of its financial year it has missed all 15 of its service quality targets.
The most important one – next day delivery for first class post – will show its success rate falling from 90.1percent in 2003-2004 to 88.2percent, way short of its 92.5percent goal.
The deteriorating service will be blamed on unprecedented upheaval as private sector directors of the organisation seek to change service, staff and transport arrangements at the same time.
But this is unlikely to placate the public which has seen rising profits and plans to increase the price of first class post from 26p to 30p next April.
Deteriorating service quality could also encourage regulator Postcomm to consider opening up the industry to full outside competition before the anticipated 2007 target date.
Postcomm has already expressed “bemusement” about the Royal Mail accounts which showed it made GBP220m annual profits on a turnover of GBP8.6bn. The Royal Mail said the April-to-June figures would show a downward spiral but refused to give details.
“The report that we are due to publish will confirm that there was a dip in service in spring but we have since improved,” said a spokesman.
Royal Mail will not discuss it, but industry experts claim the first class delivery statistics will show a 91percent target achieved in July and 92percent so far in August leaving the company close to its 92.5percent goal.
“Service quality targets suffered as Royal Mail put in place a raft of changes during the spring. But no one should be surprised by this and the postal service is recovering now as the restructuring beds down,” said an industry figure.
Yet the figures are likely to make it harder for the government to press ahead with any privatisation plans. The official line from the department of trade and industry is that this is not on the agenda, but there have been media reports thatdiscussions have taken place.
Martin O’Neill, Labour MP and chairman of the House of Commons trade and industry committee, believes privatisation is not likely – at least not in the short term. “I think it’s politically unrealistic to think the government would look at this without far-reaching political debate. It would be very divisive inside the party,” he said.
