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Royal Mail may bid farewell to Saturday deliveries for second class letters if plans under consideration by industry regulator Ofcom go ahead. The watchdog, which has been considering the future of the universal postal service since January, has now disclosed that its prime focus is shaking up the second class delivery options whilst committing to maintain first class services six days a week.
Proposals on the table suggest axing Saturday deliveries for second class post and shifting to an every other weekday schedule, however, the promised delivery period would stay capped at three working days. Despite no final decisions Ofcom is still reviewing potential changes, and they’re aiming to publish a formal consultation in early 2025, with a verdict expected by summer the same year.
Struggling to align with modern demands due to decreased letter post, Royal Mail argues that their current commitments are unsustainable and economically impractical. The postal service posted its suggestions to Ofcom back in April, pushing for an end to Saturday deliveries for its second-tier service and recommending a cutback to alternate weekdays.
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(Image: Matthew Horwood)
Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s network and communications group director, said: “If we decide to propose changes to the universal service next year, we want to make sure we achieve the best outcome for consumers. So we’re now looking at whether we can get the universal service back on an even keel in a way that meets people’s needs.”
She continued: “But this won’t be a free pass for Royal Mail under any scenario, it must invest in its network, become more efficient and improve its service levels.”
Royal Mail’s parent company International Distribution Services (IDS), which was taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky in a £3.57 billion deal last May, has stated that “change cannot come soon enough” for the UK’s postal system.
IDS’s group chief executive Martin Seidenberg commented: “Our proposal for the future of the universal service has been developed after speaking to thousands of people across the country, and is designed to protect what matters most for customers.”
He continued: “It can be achieved through regulatory change with no need for new legislation. The universal service faces a very real and urgent financial sustainability challenge.”
The Royal Mail’s universal service obligation (USO) requires it to deliver letters six days a week to all 32 million addresses in the UK at the same price, regardless of destination. When Ofcom initially proposed the idea of reducing postal delivery days, it caused a public uproar, leading ministers to quickly refute any claims that the Government would approve the elimination of Saturday deliveries.
The six-day-a-week delivery mandate is a legal requirement under the Postal Services Act 2011 as part of the universal service obligation. However, the current proposals under consideration wouldn’t necessitate a legislative amendment, since Royal Mail would continue to deliver first-class mail six days a week.
Royal Mail revealed that its earlier proposals to scale back all non-first-class letter deliveries, which encompasses second class and bulk business mail, could lead to savings of up to £300 million annually.
The company also shared that the strategy is expected to result in “fewer than 1,000” voluntary redundancies, with daily delivery routes anticipated to be reduced by 7,000 to 9,000 within a two-year timeframe.
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