Royal Mail pilots early delivery charge
SWANSEA businesses and residents could soon have to pay £62.50 a month to guarantee their mail arrives before 9am.
Under a huge shake-up of postal services, the Royal Mail says it will soon only be able to promise early morning deliveries to those addresses in Llanelli and Burry Port that receive an average of 20 or more letters a day.
Everyone else will either have to wait until after 9am or pay for the service when the changes start later this month.
And if the scheme is judged to be a success there, it will be extended to Swansea and across the country.
Head of external relations for the Royal Mail¹s parent company Consignia Stuart Taylor said the changes were needed to improve efficiency and cut costs as the company had lost £1.1billion in the last year.
Addressing Llanelli Town Council, he said every property in the area would continue to receive a delivery six days a week but those who did not get a high volume of mail may not see the postman until lunchtime in town or 3pm in rural areas.
‘We can¹t guarantee that everyone will get their mail at the time they get it now,‘ he said.
By monitoring deliveries during the past 11 weeks it had been established that there were 221 addresses in the area that received an average of more than 20 letters a day and they would get their mail between 7am and 9am. Anyone else wanting to get their post early could either pay the £62.50 fee each month or their mail would be available for them to collect at the Llanelli sorting office from 8.30am.
The scheme will start in the Swiss Valley and Llangennech areas of Llanelli on July 15. It will be expanded across Llanelli and Burry Port within five weeks.
Mr Taylor said the Royal Mail had consulted with industry watchdogs and regulators about the changes.
But questioned by councillors he confirmed there would be job losses and that the company had yet to reach an agreement with the unions.
‘There is no point pretending we are going to make savings without losing some of our employees. It¹s too early to say what will happen in Llanelli. We have no intention of making compulsory redundancies.‘ The changes are being introduced in 14 towns and cities across Britain, although Llanelli is the only one in Wales.
Reacting to the plans, Federation of Small Businesses Wales spokesman, Russell Lawson, said they were not unexpected because the Royal Mail had lost so much money.
But he said postal deliveries in outlying areas might need subsidies to help cover the Royal Mail¹s costs.
‘It‘s the small businesses which will bear the brunt of these extra charges and ironically they are the ones who need the early service most.
‘They rely on cheques arriving promptly to pay off creditors, avoid interest charges and keep the banks happy.‘
