Starting from tomorrow, Monday, July 28, second class letters will be delivered on alternate weekends and not on Saturday’s.
Starting from tomorrow, Monday, July 28, second class letters will be delivered on alternate weekends and not on Saturday’s.
A huge change to Royal Mail deliveries starts from TOMORROW as part of a massive shake-up. Starting from tomorrow, Monday, July 28, second class letters will be delivered on alternate weekends and not on Saturday’s.
Ofcom said a reform to postal service was needed as people are sending fewer letters each year, so stamp prices keep rising as the cost of delivering letters goes up. The changes mean second-class letters will be delivered either on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or on Tuesday and Thursday, in a two-week cycle.
“These changes are in the best interests of consumers and businesses, as urgent reform of the postal service is necessary to give it the best chance of survival,” said Natalie Black, Ofcom’s group director for networks and communications.
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She said: “The company now has to play its part and implement this effectively.” Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS), said Ofcom’s announcement was “good news for customers across the UK”, and that it would support a “reliable, efficient and financially sustainable Universal Service”.
Martin Seidenberg, IDS chief executive, said the changes reflect the “realities of how customers send and receive mail today”.
But consumer group Citizens Advice said Royal Mail had a “woeful track record of failing to meet delivery targets, all the while ramping up postage costs”.
Tom MacInnes, Citizens Advice director of policy, said Ofcom had “missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change”.
“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards,” he said.
The UK Greeting Card Association also criticised the move, saying it was “concerned that a reduction in the second-class service, would lead to a reliance on uncapped, unregulated first-class mail that is increasingly unaffordable for businesses and consumers alike”
The Liberal Democrats said Ofcom’s announcement was a “deeply worrying decision that could leave countless people who rely on these deliveries in the lurch”.
“People need to know that their post will arrive on time so they can go about their lives, and this move flies right in the face of that,” said the party’s business spokesperson, Sarah Olney..