CUT 1p OFF FIRST CLASS STAMP, SAYS NEW WATCHDOG

The new consumer watchdog for postal services today called for the price of
a first class stamp to be cut by 1p and said it could have the right to veto
post office closures.

Postwatch complained that standards were falling, with almost two million
first class letters failing to arrive next day.

Sub post office closures were at an all-time high and industrial relations
problems were a “serious threat” to deliveries, said chairman Peter
Carr.

The Post Office has admitted that first class mail reliability had been
hit, blaming continual delays on the railways and unofficial strikes by
workers.

The watchdog said there should be a stamp price freeze as a “minimum
requirement” over the next two years but preferred to see first class
stamp prices cut by 1p.

Mr Carr warned that up to 600 sub post offices could close in the current
financial year, twice as many as last year.

The new licence being granted to the Post Office from next Monday, which
will open up services to private competition for the first time, should set out
the criteria for an unavoidable closure, he said.

If the criteria were not met, Postwatch could have the right to veto
closures.

“The Post Office has a lot to prove at the moment if it is still to remain
a service that is admired and cherished by the general public,” said Mr
Carr.

He said the Post Office should face “as much competition as possible” as
long as there was no threat to the universal service.

The new watchdog, officially launched today, will follow up the thousands
of complaints made every year about the postal service.

end
PA NEWS, 20th March 2001