Orkney and Shetland Islands’ MP demands action on parcel charges
Opening up parcel deliveries to competition has been a disaster for the people in remote communities who rely most heavily on them, a Liberal Democrat MP complained today.
Alistair Carmichael, who represents Orkney and Shetland, called for Government action to protect the islanders from inflated charges for often almost non-existent services.
And he warned that any moves to privatise the Post Office’s letter delivery service would create further problems and force more people to move to overcrowded urban areas.
Party colleague Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) said it was unacceptable that state-owned Parcelforce charged islanders twice the usual rate for a service that was a day slower.
He called for the firm to be made subject to the same universal service obligation as Royal Mail.
In a backbench debate Mr Carmichael said his constituents had no option but to use mail-order and internet services and yet faced delivery charges up to 12 times higher than mainland customers.
And despite paying the inflated price, items often failed to arrive or were dumped on the larger islands with no arrangements made for them to be sent on.
“I am aware that there is no easy answer and that we are the victims of a deregulated market which may have brought advantages to some.
“But we are not looking for special treatment or special handouts; we are looking for the same treatment as everyone else,” he told Trade Minister Gerry Sutcliffe.
Mr Sutcliffe said the Government could not intervene in Parcelforce’s charges as it was operating on a commercial basis in a highly competitive market.
But he promised to raise the issue in talks with the firm – which has been radically shaken up in a bid to reduce losses.
He also dismissed any suggestions that the Royal Mail’s obligation to provide the same service to all parts of the UK would be dropped.
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