Related Articles
From the end of this month the service, which was privatised in 2013, will be owned by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský.
Royal Mail has failed to meet its annual first and second class delivery targets since 2019, and was fined £10.5m by regulator Ofcom last year for breaching its universal service obligation.
Read More:
When the service was privatised it was delivering 92% of First Class post within one day, but that had fallen to 74% by 2024.
Under the plans second class service would be cut to two or three days per week, and legal delivery targets would be relaxed to make it easier for Royal Mail to achieve them.
The GCA launched a petition earlier this year calling for parliamentary scrutiny of the proposals, which was signed by more than 16,000 people.
Now the organisation has released its formal response to the plans, in which it raises concerns the regulator may be in breach of its legal duties to businesses and consumers.
The GCA argues that the reduction in second class service would be in breach of the 2011 Postal Services Act, which requires an affordable postal service to be available six days per week.
The response further raises concerns that Ofcom has failed to adequately assess the wider economic impact of proposed changes; maintain an affordable postal service six days a week as mandated by legislation; ascertain whether Royal Mail’s costs have been adequately assessed before recommending changes to the USO; and is failing to protect more than one million consumers consumers in 37 locations across the country who are already part of a pilot to implement reduced delivery schedules without any consumer notification that stamp buyers may be getting a worse service than the one they paid for.
In Scotland, the reduced service pilots are taking place in areas of Ayr, Glasgow, Girvan, and Cumbernauld.
In addition, the cost of a first class stamp has risen by 170% in the last decade, with the latest hike to £1.70 the sixth in three years.
It concludes that if Ofcom continues to back the changes outlined to the USO, it risks triggering a sharper-than-necessary decline in letter volumes, increasing the likelihood that the taxpayer could be called upon to bail out Royal Mail in future.
Amanda Fergusson, chief executive of the GCA said: “Greeting cards are the beating heart of personal post in the UK and not only is this deeply valued tradition under threat, changes to the USO threaten to impact all of us who rely on Royal Mail to receive important communications, from cards to hospital appointments.
“Our detailed review of Ofcom’s proposals has demonstrated we now need proper answers from Ofcom and Royal Mail about their proposals.
“Our members are clear. A reduced service – already being piloted for thousands without proper parliamentary scrutiny – will have a serious impact on their businesses.
“And consumers too are deeply concerned – the public response to our petition shows that decisions about the postal service they treasure are too important to be left to Ofcom and Royal Mail alone.
“It’s time for MPs to get involved in proposals that as they stand, will make the postal service less national, affordable and reliable.”
Royal Mail said: “Our proposal was developed after speaking to thousands of people across the country and is designed to preserve what matters most for our customers – maintaining a one-price-goes-anywhere service to 32 million UK addresses and First Class deliveries six days a week.
“As Ofcom’s analysis shows, it is no longer financially sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering 6.7 billion. Reform is crucial to support a modern, sustainable, and reliable postal service for our customers, our company and our people.”
Ofcom have been contacted for comment.
