MPs set to check out changes to mail rules

Proposed changes to the universal postal service – which guarantees that people posting letters and parcels with Royal Mail pay the same wherever they are living in the UK – are being discussed by MPs in WestmInster this week

The current proposals include First Class mail being delivered six days a week, as now, but Second Class letters would be delivered on alternate weekdays and not on Saturdays.

Royal Mail has also called for postal regulator Ofcom to remove regulations that stop Royal Mail from offering parcel tracking for Universal Service customers, which it described as “a hygiene factor” in the growing and hugely-competitive parcels sector.

“The current restriction does not reflect what customers want and renders the Universal Service unfit for the digital age,” Royal Mail stated.

It also urged Ofcom to publish its consultation decision by 1 July.

MPs will look at how proposed changes to the Universal Postal Service will  impact rural, remote and island communities on Wednesday (11 June) at 9:30am, Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster – watch live on parliamentlive.tv  
 
The Scottish Affairs Committee is holding a one-off evidence session on the work of the Universal Postal Service in remote, rural and island communities in Scotland.  
 
The Universal Service obligation (USO) is the ‘one price goes anywhere’ principle of an affordable postal service, with the Royal Mail acting as the UK’s designated universal postal service provider.

In January, Ofcom launched a consultation on proposed changes to the USO, which could reduce some delivery targets. This has caused concern for residents in rural, remote and island areas, who already experience significant postal delays.  
 
The cross-party committee will first question consumer bodies on the problems that remote and rural communities experience with the postal service. MPs will explore the impact that proposed changes to the USO would have on these remote areas, the feasibility of Royal Mail meeting the proposed new targets, and its affordability.  
 
In the second panel, the committee will ask Ofcom about these proposed changes to the USO, how it assessed the impact on rural consumers and how it will ensure that these postal reforms improve the provision of post for consumers.  
 
In the final panel, MPs will quiz Royal Mail on the operational differences between postal delivery in urban Scotland and its more rural areas, and whether the proposed service reforms will lead to higher prices for consumers. They could also explore its recent announcement of a Royal Mail NHS specific barcode and the long-term future of the Universal Service obligation.  
 
Witnesses at 9:30am: 
Grace Remmington, Head of Postal Advocacy, Consumer Scotland 
Stacey Dingwall, Head of Policy and External Affairs (Scotland), Federation of Small Businesses  
 
Witnesses at 10:15am:  
Natalie Black, Group Director for Networks and Communications, Ofcom 
Glenn Preston, Scotland Director, Ofcom 
 
Witnesses at 10:45am:  
Ricky McAulay, UK Operations Director, Royal Mail 
Ross Hutchison, Scotland’s General Manager for Processing, Royal Mail