Postcomm prepares to hand off UK postal regulatory powers
Postal delivery companies in the UK are set to become “regulated” operators rather than “licensed” operators from next month.
Read MoreTag: OFCOM
Bulk mail removed from UK's universal service obligation
The UK’s postal regulator, the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm) has amended Royal Mail’s licence to remove bulk mail from its universal service obligation.
Read MoreHooper to help shape Royal Mail’s future
Vince Cable, business secretary, will announce on Thursday that he has commissioned Richard Hooper to update his findings and help shape the coalition’s ambitious privatisation plan for Royal Mail, reports the Financial Times.
Read MoreLord Currie appointed to Royal Mail board
Lord Currie was the founding Chairman of Ofcom and has led the regulator since 2002. He will be stepping down in March 2009.
Read MoreRoyal Mail cuts may end Saturday post
The proposal to reduce deliveries to five days a week will also see fewer first class letters arrive the day after they are sent.
The recommendations, to be submitted in the next 10 days as part of a review into the future of the postal sector, are included in a radical plan by the regulator Postcomm to shore up finances at the Royal Mail.
It hopes to secure the future of the “universal service”, which means the company promises to deliver letters to each of the 28 million add-resses in Britain for the same price.
Moving from a six-days-a-week delivery would mark a further reduction of services by Royal Mail, which has already been allowed to end twice-daily deliveries in an effort to restore profitability.
The average delivery time has slipped and post boxes are no longer emptied on a Sunday. Any attempt to drop the Saturday delivery would be fiercely opposed, not least because it is enshrined in law under the Postal Services Act of 2000. Politicians, consumer groups, businesses and the unions say Postcomm’s proposals would lead to a further diminution of the service.
It is the first time that the Royal Mail has ever made a loss from this service.
Postcomm’s recommendations about cutting the six-day service are included in its submission to the review, the Telegraph understands.
The regulator also suggests that the Royal Mail’s delivery targets should be lowered.
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