Keep the Post Public: Daily Telegraph Article and TV reports

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Letter to Branches





No. 471/11
Ref: GS 11.0
Date: 16/05/11



To All Branches


Dear Colleagues,

Keep the Post Public: Daily Telegraph Article and TV News Reports

CWU continues to work with our allies in Parliament with respect to the Postal Services Bill. The second stage of the Reports stage takes place on Tuesday May 17th.Work is continuing in the House Of Lords on this. As part of our parliamentary work, a meeting took place with The Right Honourable Oliver Letwin MP Minister of State at the Cabinet Office (policy enforcer across Government). This led to a further meeting with Ed Davey MP, Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs. The Union continued to press for further concessions on the Postal Services Bill.

As a result of the meetings, a letter was sent to Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP (attached as Appendix ‘a’)

On Saturday May 14th an article appeared in the Daily Telegraph by Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor (attached at Appendix ‘b’ (Report also appeared on the Business Section of the Rolling TV News Channels)

As a result of this press report a letter was sent to the Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (attached as Appendix ‘C’)

Any enquiries on this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary’s Office quoting the reference GS: 11.0.

W.Hayes D.Ward
General Secretary Deputy General Secretary (P)


APPENDIX ‘A’



Letter to Rt Oliver Letwin MP:

Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP
Minister of State
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London SW1A 2AS

Dear Minister of State

Thank you for agreeing to meet us earlier this week. I thought the discussion was conducted in a constructive way and I am certainly more hopeful now that we will get a long term Inter Business Agreement in practice to give greater assurance to the post office network in the medium term.

 I did however want to clarify one point on the Universal Postal Service obligation (USO),

Ministers have declared that the scope of the Ofcom 'market review', which must be conducted within 18 months (under Clause 29), will NOT include recommending changes to the minimum requirements of the USO; though this is not immediately apparent from the wording of the Bill at Clause 29 (3).

However quite independently Clause 33 provides for the Secretary of State following an Ofcom review to change the USO minimum requirements by affirmative order. No time limit attached to this Clause - so the Secretary of State or Ofcom could initiate it within 6 months or 12 months or 18 months.

This fact was pointed out by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee of the House of Lords, which said:
Clause 33(5) - alteration of minimum requirements for universal postal service
 
9.  Clause 29(1) requires OFCOM by order (subject to no Parliamentary procedure) to set out the services which a universal postal service should provide. Clause 29(2) requires the service to include, as a minimum, the services set out in clause 30 (minimum requirements such as daily delivery of letters Monday-Saturday, a uniform public tariff, etc). The order by OFCOM cannot alter the minimum requirements.

However, clause 33 provides a power for OFCOM to review the extent to which the minimum requirements reflect the needs of users of postal services. If OFCOM carry out a review (and they may be directed by the Secretary of State to do so) the Secretary of State may then, by order subject to affirmative procedure, amend clause 30. The Secretary of State is not constrained necessarily to follow any conclusions of the review. The Committee makes no recommendation on clause 33(5), but draws it to the attention of the House as a significant power which would allow the Secretary of State to alter the minimum requirements for a universal postal service set out in clause 30.

Ministers proclaim that they have no intention to reduce the USO minimum requirements. But under Clause 33(5) Ministers are permitted to do so.

You will know that this is a matter of considerable concern for a number of MPs and peers including over [47?? check] Coalition MPs.

Already Ministers have agreed a transitional period of 10 years rather than 3 before the Universal Service Provider can be changed.

Ministers have proposed that the Ofcom review of the costs of USO should be subject to a transitional period of 5 years, rather than 3.

Surely it is reasonable to ask the Government to forebear from triggering this mechanism for a transitional period of 5 years.

With this assurance in law of what Ministers say they intend in any case, customers and operators will know where they stand in this crucial period.

Without it, the Government will be inviting a lengthy lobbying process from the new owners of Royal Mail to seek a whittling away of the least profitable parts of the USO obligation.

I hope you will give this serious consideration and that the Goverment will be willing to make its stated intention more concrete by accepting an amendments to the Bill at Report or by bringing forward its own amendment at Third Reading.

Yours sincerely

W HAYES
General Secretary





APPENDIX ‘B’



Article in the Dally Telegraph May 14th 2011 by Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor. (Also reported on the Business Section of the Rolling News Channels)




“Royal Mail is being lined up for a state-backed cash injection because of its deteriorating financial position, Whitehall documents disclose.

A report for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills disclosed that ministers are considering injecting millions of pounds of fresh public money into the postal service, in a move which could delay its planned privatisation.

The report said: “The complexity of the privatisation process has become more apparent since November. This means additional State aid support is required making the case more complicated. This increased complexity has pushed back the completion date”

Ministers also need to win European Union approval for the taxpayer to take over the company’s £8.4 billion pension deficit, paving the way for privatisation”
APPENDX ‘C’


Letter to ~Ed Davey, Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs as BIS:






OUR REF: GS 11.0
DATE: 16 May 2011



Edward Davey MP
Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs
Department of Business, Innovation & Skills
1 Victoria Street,
London SW1H 0ET



Dear Edward

POSTAL SERVICES BILL

The following report appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 14th May:

“The complexity of the privatisation process has become more apparent since November and was caused, in part, by the downgrading of Royal Mail Business Plan in January. This means that additional State aid support is required, making the case more complicated.

This increased complexity has pushed back the completion date

Chris Hope
Whitehall Editor of the Daily Telegraph.”

I would appreciate you providing more information on this report.

Many thanks

Yours sincerely



W HAYES
General Secretary

[fishtank]

CWU continues to work with our allies in Parliament

Do they meet in a phone box?
If they are talking about Labour watch out for "friendly fire".

[Big Daz]

Tony Clarke former DGS of the UCW is a member of the House of Lords and totally against as sell off of RM either in full or part. In 2009 he was almost a lone voice amonst the ranks of Labour Lords in opposing Mandlesons PSB.

Labour's shadow minister in the House of Lords for BIS is Tony Young former GS of the NCU and joint GS with Johnson post NCU/CWU merger and then joint GS with Derek Hodgson.

Fortunatley the general responsible for the friendly fire was demoted to rank and file mbr of the House of Lords.

Fortunatley for Labour the current government planning to go all the way on private ownership enables them to vote against this version of the PSB. What position Labour front bench would have took if the coaltion had carried on with the minority share sell off is something we can only guess at.