Representatives of small businesses and workers have aired concerns regarding proposals to reduce the frequency of second-class post deliveries, warning it could have ripple effects on the economy.
The concerns come as Royal Mail proposed to reduce the delivery of second-class letters to every other weekday in a bid to combat heavy losses and changing customer habits.
First-class mail would continue six days a week but the business also wants to reduce the delivery speed for bulk business mail, to arrive within three days instead of two.
Royal Mail’s proposals, outlined in its submission to a consultation on the future of the universal service obligation, highlight the necessity to deliver letters to all UK addresses six days a week.
It argues that the current requirement has become “unsustainable” due to a significant decline in letter volumes.
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It added that the changes would save up to £300m a year if “fully and swiftly implemented”, although they could result in close to 1,000 voluntary redundancies.
Federation of Small Businesses policy chairwoman Tina McKenzie told the Times that “taking the axe to daily deliveries for second-class would be a drastic cut which would hit the many small businesses which rely on it, and will in all probability leave some with no choice but to fork out for first-class.”
The federation said one in four small companies rely on the postal service and that scaling it back risks doing damage to the economy.
Ofcom launched the consultation after putting forward options for changes to the universal service obligation.
The Communications Workers’ Union said the proposed changes would merely create a “short-term financial gain for Royal Mail”.
It told the Times that the company’s “wider challenges” such as a “crisis in resourcing and failures on quality of service must be addressed in step with genuine reform”.
McKenzie added: “We hope that Ofcom will reflect on the detrimental impact of diminishing six-day-a-week deliveries and remind itself that its role is to protect consumers rather than be a cheerleader for service cuts by an organisation it’s supposed to regulate.”
In response to Ofcom’s consultation on long-awaited proposals, this week greetings card retailers suggested to the communications industry regulator that it scraps a midweek delivery day instead of Saturday if it must reduce the UK’s letter service.
The Greeting Card Association told Ofcom that stopping the delivery of standard letters on Tuesday or Wednesday would be less damaging than its original plan to axe weekend deliveries.
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