Related Articles
West Scotland MSP Katy Clark is urging Royal Mail to reconsider plans to push back delivery office start times.
The Royal Mail plans to push them back across the UK, which would mean customers and rural businesses would receive mail much later in the day.
Under the new plans, the delivery office at Largs will open over an hour later, moving from 6:56am to 8:05am.
Katy, who represents West Scotland for Scottish Labour, said she would be writing to Royal Mail and pushing hard to reverse the planned changes.
She commented: “This proposed shakeup will mean that some people will be waiting until late in the afternoon to get their post.
“For areas like North Ayrshire, which has many rural communities and businesses, these changes will have a really worrying and disproportionate impact.
“This shakeup will also dramatically change the working patterns of postal staff, who would be expected to work up to five hours in the height of summer heat or the darkness of winter.
“It also comes at a time when workers are being asked to accept a serious real terms pay cut during a cost of living crisis.
“These changes show why we need a publicly owned postal service, more accountable to citizens. I will be writing to the Royal Mail to demand they’re not taken forward.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are in discussion about moving start times later to meet the growing customer demand for more next day parcel deliveries, and to reduce our environmental impact by moving more mail by rail over time.
“We have made it clear that these proposals are all subject to further discussion and detailed design, and no plans have been finalised.
“As part of our ongoing planning, we are exploring a number of changes that would mean that we would still deliver letters by 5pm, as opposed to by 4pm currently.”
