Postcomm, which had been due to publish the price controls for 2006-10 this month, rejected suggestions the delay until next week was due to rows with Royal Mail and the government. It said its work had been put back by the amount of material submitted during its consultation on the price control proposals.
Read MoreA long-awaited review by Postcomm, the postal services regulator, that could see Royal Mail authorised to raise the price of a first class stamp from 30p to as high as 39p is expected to be published this week. The review will set out the terms on which Royal Mail is forced to face open competition when its 300-year-old monopoly ends in January. Alan Leighton, chairman of Royal Mail, wants to raise the price of a stamp to 39p. This would allow him to plug the pension deficit and to maintain the universal service obligation. Postcomm favours restricting the rise to 34p.
Read MoreA warning was issued yesterday that the future of fragile rural communities could be at risk if the Government fails to pledge greater commitment to safeguarding sub-post offices. Allan Reid, Lib Dem MP for Argyll and Bute, is calling for a long-term promise of support for rural post offices. “We have already seen the Clydesdale Bank closing branches and, if the sub-post offices close as well, it’s going to kill a lot of villages, because usually the post office is combined with the local shop, so that will go as well. At the moment there is a guarantee against unavoidable closures of rural post offices, but that stops next year. “The Government has a package in place – a nationwide subsidy – to support local post offices, but that runs out in 2008 and I know that the future of local post offices, without a guarantee for their long-term future, is very bleak.” As well as committing to a long-term subsidy of rural post offices, the Government needs to allow small branches to deal with more transactions, such as vehicle taxation, he said.
Read MoreRoyal Mail’s hopes of giving shares to its employees looked doomed last night after the Conservatives told The Times that they had misgivings over backing the necessary legislation. If the Tories oppose the plans, defeat in the House of Commons appears inevitable because of the huge opposition to the plan from Labour backbenchers. Some 186 Labour MPs have signed an early-day motion opposing any issuance of shares, out of a total of 198 signatures against. Nick Brown, the former minister and ally of the Chancellor, is the latest big name to join the opposition. The number backing the motion is more than half of the parliamentary party and is the majority of those Labour MPs eligible to sign, given that members of the Government and their parliamentary aides are not free to back such motions.
Read MoreIan Griffiths, Group Managing Director of GKN Automotive, has been appointed Managing Director of Royal Mail Letters, it was announced today. Reporting to Adam Crozier, Royal Mail’s Group Chief Executive, Mr Griffiths will have day-to-day responsibility for the delivery of Royal Mail’s annual postbag of more than 20 billion letters. Mr Griffiths will be joining the board of Royal Mail Holdings plc, chaired by Allan Leighton, and he will also sit on the company’s Management Board, which is chaired by Mr Crozier. He is expected to take up the appointment early next year.
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