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Royal Mail has called for “urgent deployment” of the reformed Universal Service Obligation (USO) model, after posting its latest Quality of Service results where letters delivery was “still not good enough”.
In the period from 29 September to 30 November last year, 77.5% of First Class mail was delivered the next working day, with 96.6% arriving within three working days.
For Second Class mail, 91.6% was delivered within three working days, and 98.4% within five working days.
The figures are better than in the previous quarter, but First Class still lags way behind Ofcom’s targets of 93% of First Class mail being delivered within one working day of collection.
For Second Class the target is 98.5% within three working days.
“All figures represent an improvement in performance compared with the previous quarter, despite the impact of Storm Claudia which caused flooding and major disruption during November,” Royal Mail noted.
The delivery targets do not apply during December, due to the higher seasonal volumes.
Royal Mail CEO Alistair Cochrane commented: “While these results show improvements for both First and Second Class mail, we recognise that our performance in letters is still not good enough. Unfortunately, under the current delivery model there is no viable way to significantly and sustainably improve quality of service for customers.
“The answer is to urgently implement Universal Service reform, which is why we have now entered an intense period of discussions with the CWU to finally reach an agreement on these changes. We owe it to our customers and our people to provide an exceptional mail service, and we are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the CWU that finally allows us to do so.”
Royal Mail has been under fire by MPs on the Business and Trade Committee, with accusations of parcels being prioritised and mail in some areas arriving in “batches”. MP Lee Barron said: “The quickest way to get a letter delivered is if you put it inside a parcel,” during a recent debate on postal services in rural areas.
A Royal Mail spokesperson told Printweek that it is sometimes necessary to clear parcels first due to the amount of space they take up at some older delivery office buildings.
“Ofcom is aware of this and understands that there are circumstances where it may be necessary to prioritise parcels over letters as part of our contingency plans,” the spokesperson said.
Regarding “batching”, the spokesperson stated: “While a temporary delay may, at times, cause some items to arrive at the same time, it’s more likely it’s due to the service being used.
“High volume senders (banks, NHS) are increasingly using our economy product which is delivered five days after posting, rather than First or Second Class. Items sent using this service are delivered with a First or Second Class item or on the fifth day after postage.
“As a result, some residents may routinely see a number of items arrive at the same time, alongside First or Second Class mail. That is normal, and in line with the specification of that service.”
The new USO model has been trialled at 35 pilot delivery offices last year, but the roll-out was paused last September.
The CWU and Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services are currently in talks about the way forward.
“Royal Mail and the CWU have a disagreement over what method should be used. The CWU believes that the company’s chosen method, Optimised Delivery Model (ODM), does not work,” CWU stated.
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