Ofcom on the future of universal post: we’ve set out options for reform
The universal postal service risks becoming unsustainable as people send fewer letters and receive more parcels, meaning reform is necessary to secure its long-term future, according to evidence set out by Ofcom today.
Postal services and postal workers remain essential to those who rely on them. Eight in 10 people (79%) say some things will always need to be sent by post.[1] And three quarters of those who use postal services (74%) say they rely on the post for letters.
However, while Royal Mail’s obligations have not changed since 2011, letter volumes have halved and parcel deliveries have become increasingly important. Given the significant cost to Royal Mail of delivering the universal service, there is an increasing risk it will become financially and operationally unsustainable in the long term.
Given these challenges, Ofcom is today inviting views on a range of options for redesigning the universal postal service to secure its future, while ensuring it reflects the way people use it. Under any scenario, Royal Mail must modernise its network, become more efficient and improve its service levels.
Ofcom’s research shows that people want to get what they pay for. But people are not currently getting a reliable service because of Royal Mail’s recent poor performance, for which Ofcom fined the company £5.6m last year. We will continue to hold Royal Mail to account and expect it to turn things around as a matter of urgency.
Options for reform
At this stage, we are not consulting on specific proposals to change the universal service obligation (USO). Some of the options, which are detailed in full in our document, would require Government and Parliament to change primary legislation, while others could be made through changes to our regulations.[5]
The two primary options we have set out are:
- Making changes to existing First and Second Class and business products so that most letters are delivered through a service taking up to three days or longer, with a next-day service still available for any urgent letters.
- Reducing the number of letter delivery days in the service from six to five or three. This would require Government and Parliament to change primary legislation.
We estimate that Royal Mail could achieve a net cost saving of £100m-£200m if letter deliveries were reduced to five days; and £400m-£650m if reduced to three days. If the large majority of letters were delivered within three days, it could achieve net cost savings of £150m-£650m.[6]
Downgrading delivery targets is not an option for reform. In fact, it will be important to consider whether additional safeguards are necessary to ensure people’s needs are fully met. Any changes must improve existing levels of reliability.
Changing the specification of the universal service is likely to be preferable to using a subsidy to maintain the existing levels of service and products, given it no longer aligns with the way people use it; although this would ultimately be a decision for Government.
What do postal users want?
Fewer delivery days could still meet most people’s needs, according to what postal users have told us. Nine in 10 people (88%) say reliability is important for letter deliveries, compared to 58% for delivery on Saturdays (down from 63% in 2020).[7]
Most participants in our research[8] were also open to reducing some services and standards – particularly for letters – in the interests of keeping prices down and only paying for what was required. Similarly, there was strong acknowledgement that most letters were not urgent, but people still needed to have a faster service available for the occasional urgent items, even if that meant paying a premium for it.
The UK is not alone in needing to respond to these challenges. Across Europe and more widely, universal postal service obligations have been, or are being, reformed. Other countries have reduced the frequency of delivery or extended delivery times for letters – including Sweden in 2018, Belgium twice since 2020, and Norway and Denmark twice each since 2016.[9]
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said: “Postal workers are part of the fabric of our society and are critical to communities up and down the country. But we’re sending half as many letters as we did in 2011, and receiving many more parcels. The universal service hasn’t changed since then, it’s getting out of date and will become unsustainable if we don’t take action.
“So we’ve set out options for reform so there can be a national discussion about the future of universal post. In the meantime, we’re making sure prices will remain affordable by capping the price of Second Class stamps.”
Next steps
We are inviting views from interested parties by 3 April 2024 on our analysis and the options for reform, to understand the potential impact on people and businesses. This includes vulnerable people, those in rural and remote areas of the UK’s nations, as well as large organisations who use bulk mail services.
We will hold events in the coming months to discuss the evidence and options, bringing together a range of people and organisations with different perspectives. After carefully considering the feedback, we will provide an update in the summer.
Capping Second Class stamp prices
To make sure the universal service remains affordable, Ofcom periodically reviews whether stamp prices should be capped. In doing so, we must consider the impact of any cap on the financial sustainability of the universal service. We set our last cap in 2019 and have reviewed prices for the period April 2024 to March 2027.
Royal Mail continues to be the UK’s only door-to-door deliverer of letters on a national scale. This means we cannot rely on competition to ensure prices remain affordable.
