Licence threat won't affect 'appalling' post
THE Government’s new postal regulator, PostComm, yesterday dismissed the Post Office’s threat to withdraw from postal licence negotiations as “posturing”.
“This is all hype to inflict pressure on us,” a PostComm spokesman said. “They are not going to do it. It’s not in anyone’s interest that the postal service is disrupted.”
Under government proposals for the postal system, anyone who wants to deliver letters and parcels in Britain after March 26 must have a licence from the regulator otherwise they will be acting illegally. The Post Office has said it may reject the licence because it “appears to seek to diminish the confidence in the postal service and undermine the uniform tariff structure”. It has sent a written response to PostComm stating its concerns, and yesterday declined to comment further on negotiations.
A PostComm spokesman said yesterday the postal service would continue as usual. “If push comes to shove some fix will be put in place,” he said. “Customers will see no difference in the service whatsoever, and it will remain as appalling as it is now.” He added that the regulator was considering the Post Office’s response as well as responses from several other sources. “We will listen, and doubtless some parts will be changed,” he said. “The copy of the licence that is on our desks at present will not have the wording of the licence issued.”
The Post Office, which will shortly change its name to Consignia, currently has a monopoly on delivering letters under £1, but the Government is seeking to reduce the level of the monopoly and increase competition in the market.
However, the Post Office has objected to the regulator’s proposals because it is concerned that opening up the system completely will undermine its ability to deliver letters to any part of Britain for a uniform price.
PostComm has also proposed to fix prices outside the reserved monopoly for letter delivery for the next two years. The Post Office says this is “contrary to explicit direction from government”
“The licence provides only uncertainty and risk for the licensee, made doubly concerning and unprecedented as the licence does not contain an appeal mechanism,” according to the Post Office response.
