Tag: Europe

UK Government departments are being told to stop sending letters via the Royal Mail because it does not offer the same value for money as its rivals, despite its huge subsidies. The Government wants to cut GBP30 million from the cost of delivering post and is urging departments and councils to consider using one of the eight private-sector suppliers. The news comes two weeks after the Royal Mail said the Government had given it GBP1.75 billion in emergency help to plug its pension fund deficit and pay for modernisation. The pressure to abandon the Royal Mail is coming from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which negotiates business deals on behalf of Whitehall. The man responsible for negotiating with the Royal Mail has told the Treasury Select Committee that the discussions had been “not as fruitful as I would have liked”. Hugh Barrett, the chief executive of OGCbuying.solutions, said: “It is a commercial decision for the Royal Mail to make as to how far they want to lower their prices in response to competition. That is established policy. We are taking advantage of the deregulated market to get the very best deal for taxpayers in that marketplace.”