The Post Office is calling for a “reliable” letter service to be kept in the interest of people and businesses, in response to Royal Mail’s push to modernise the postal service.
Post Office CEO Nick Read expressed agreement for a review of the delivery service “to work for [consumers] in the 2020s and into the next decade”, however he stressed the importance of the service to remain consistent.
Read’s statement follows Ofcom’s suggested options to decrease letter delivery to five or even three times a week, which the regulator estimates would save Royal Mail between £100m and £650m.
The move could reduce letter delivery to three days a week, which could decrease traffic and lower service to Post Offices across the country.
“Our Postmasters serve tens of thousands of customers every week who need to send important letters – whether that’s to loved ones or for personal or work-related reasons,” Read said.
“Vulnerable and elderly people, as well as many businesses, depend on a reliable letter service and their needs must be considered in any review.”
Shortly after watchdog Ofcom put forward options to reduce the service to either five or three days, PM Rishi Sunak said the government was “actively committed” to ensuring Royal Mail service remained “as it is”.
Royal Mail originally said it was planning to scrap Saturday deliveries, as it was not viable to “maintain a delivery network built for 20 billion letters when only delivering seven billion”.
Though parcel delivery is increasingly popular and profitable, the number of letters being posted has plummeted, with half the number being sent compared to 2011.
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