Tag: Postwatch

Executive Summary
Background
Postwatch, Postcomm, and Royal Mail jointly funded a research project with the aim of determining users’ perceptions of the postal service, and the key needs of postal service stakeholders. This was the first large scale research project attempting to define the needs of users by directly asking residential and business users what their needs were. The results may be very useful for Postwatch in their role as the consumer watchdog, with information about the preferences of postal service users (and potential users) feeding into Postwatch policy and the overall Postwatch remit.

Key Findings
The key findings of the research are reported below, whilst the full set of results can be found on the Postwatch website as part of the research project’s final report.
-The Universal Service Obligation
Although few survey respondents had heard of the Universal Service Obligation, there was widespread belief that all its features were important. The features that were felt to be important were deliveries and collections at least every working day, affordable prices for all, and geographical uniformity of stamp prices.
-Knowledge of Postal Services
Approximately three quarters of respondents were aware that 1st Class mail is expected to be delivered one working day after posting, and 2nd Class 3 days after posting, but most respondents did not know the correct price of 1st or 2nd class stamps. Despite a lack of knowledge of stamp prices, most respondents thought postal services were affordable and good value for money.
-Quality of Service Experience
Many respondents reported problems with their mail in terms of quality of service, with approximately half of all survey respondents reporting problems with lost mail and damaged mail in the previous 12 months. Approximately two thirds of respondents also reported incidents of mail being delivered to the wrong address in the past 12 months. Despite the apparent problems, respondents were overwhelmingly satisfied with Royal Mail’s quality of service, with approximately 9 out of 10 respondents perceiving the service to be very good, quite good or neither good nor bad.
-Collections
Post Boxes and Post Offices are used by most people according to the survey, although the regularity of use differs widely. Callers Offices are also used frequently by residential customers to collect packets and parcels from, but less frequently by businesses. The survey also showed most respondents were very satisfied with the density of post boxes, both in rural and urban areas.
-Deliveries
The research showed deliveries made to the front door of properties were seen as being a valuable asset, with most respondents not willing to lose this level of service even if it meant earlier deliveries or a cheaper postal service. Respondents were also shown to not want any decrease in the number of deliveries made per week, with respondents saying they would be worse off if deliveries were any less frequent than now.
-Collection and Delivery Times
7% ospondents thought the last collection time of their post boxes had changed in the past 12 months, with the majority of changes resulting in earlier collection times. Respondents were generally very satisfied with all elements of the collection process, although they were least satisfied with the opening hours of callers offices. Delivery times were thought to have changed within the past 12 months by approximately 40% ospondents, with the majority of those reporting a change stating that delivery times were now later than before. The research showed that respondents were somewhat worse off if deliveries were made at 12pm rather than 8am, and far worse off if deliveries shifted from 12pm to 4pm or later. Delivery time consistency was measured in terms of the variations in delivery times, with the results showing approximately half of respondents had very consistent delivery times ( /- 30 mins), but a significant proportion had ve

As expected Alistair Darling has confirmed there will be 2,500 compensated post office closures over the next 18 months. This will leave a post office network by spring 2009 of about 11,800 post offices.

Millie Banerjee, Chair of the watchdog for postal services, Postwatch, gave the following reaction to the news:

“This will not be a popular decision. But there is a broad consensus amongst those who have been considering the future of post offices that quite severe pruning is necessary if the remaining network is to be sustainable.

“Fewer customer visits and losses of over GBP 200 million a year meant action was needed. It is welcome that the government has confirmed today that financial support in excess of GBP 1.5 billion will be available up to 2011.

“We wanted the government to take a decision and to provide the missing strategic guidance. It is now down to Post Office Limited to work with Postwatch, MPs, local authorities and customers to implement the decision and to maintain as far as possible customer access to post offices services. We welcome the introduction of 500 alternative post offices in place of their bricks and mortar counterparts. These alternative mobile, part-time or co-located solutions provide local access at far less cost.

“Customers will be concerned to know if their local office is under threat. At this early stage no-one knows which offices will be proposed for closure. An announcement will be made once the closure consultation plan and timetable are finalised.

“I am sure customers will recognise that it is better for closures to be planned rather than unplanned: Unplanned closures could have led to some areas having no access at all to post office services.