Morning Line: Who needs Saturday postal deliveries?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Why all the fuss about the possibility of Royal Mail abandoning six-days-a-week delivery as part of the plan to privatise the company? The Postal Service Bill, currently going through the committee stage in the Commons before a final vote by all MPs, contains a clause which says that the delivery guarantee should be ‘financially sustainable’. This leaves the door open for abandoning the guarantee if the company fails to make a profit.

But does it matter? And wouldn’t it be better to have a profitable privatised company than stick to outdated practices and concepts of what is acceptable? Nobody running a commercial postal delivery service would promise one fee for delivering anywhere in the country and if you want your mail collected and delivered six days a week you will pay a premium rate.

While it is important to protect the single fee concept to ensure that pensioners and others on low incomes can afford to send letters to friends and family – no matter where they live – very little mail needs to be delivered overnight or six days a week. How many of us would care if we didn’t receive any post on a Saturday? A few businesses perhaps.

Equally important, how many letters really need to be delivered the next day? Very few when you take into account how long they are likely to languish in some bureaucrat’s in tray. When was the last time an insurance company, bank, credit card company, local authority or government department replied to your letter within a week? So does your letter really need to get there the next day? Probably not. And if it does, you can pay extra for a premium service – or fax it.

Most of my personal mail consists of promotional offers from credit card and insurance companies, catalogues from firms where I have purchased items on line and a few bills, most of which I can access online anyway. I can’t remember the last time I received anything other than a birthday or Christmas card from a friend. They all send emails not letters – a shame but that’s the reality.

Ministers have been accused of leaving the door open for abandoning the guarantee to enable it to maximise the amount it make from selling off Royal Mail. But what’s wrong with that if it reduces the burden on taxpayers? The government has already agreed to take on Royal Mail’s £8 billion of pension liabilities – which we will all have to pay for eventually - so it sounds like a good thing if the Treasury can make as much as possible from privatisation.

However, it would matter if the get-out clause was used to close post office branches. Currently, only 4,000 of the 11,900 branches are profitable and there are fears that without legal protection almost 8,000 could close. That would be bad news, particularly for the elderly, those on benefits and many rural communities. But if the price we have to pay for keeping some non-profitable post offices open is that we don’t get any mail on a Saturday, then that seems a reasonable compromise.

Royal Mail is, in any case, being overtaken by electronic mail and further decline is inevitable. Latest figures show that it suffered a 72% collapse in half-year profits as a result of the huge drop in the number of letters posted. Royal Mail's postal services reported £66 million losses in the six months to 26th September against £48 million profits a year earlier.

The volume of letters has fallen 16 million a day down from 68 million a day in 2005. Overall operating profits have dropped to £52 million from £184 million as it continued to be hit by increased competition from rivals as well as the use of e-mail, websites and social media.

The government maintains that privatisation is meant to help save the universal guarantee of one-price mail and six-days-a-week collection and delivery, although this is probably more to appease the unions than a serious promise. While the public have, quite rightly, been vocal in calling for rural post offices to remain open, there aren’t too many complaining about the potential loss of Saturday deliveries. If abandoning Saturday deliveries means Royal Mail can cut overtime and staff costs, that must be a good thing. If this is the price we have to pay to keep post offices open and for a one-price-goes-anywhere delivery this doesn’t sound unreasonable.

[POSTMAN]

f**k typeing...
:dcfo :ncfo :vcfo

[RelocatedRick]

With the total mess that is now crewe delivery office, there is a 7 day delivery! In other words everyone and his/her dog comes in on overtime sunday to clear some of the walks. In fact the thing about london trialling 6-10pm packet deliveries is quite funny, thats been happening in crewe for weeks!

[RelocatedRick]

In respect of the supposed £66million losses, does this take account of the £50 million plus they have squandered on the "flagship" (sinking ship) warrington mc? That £50 mill was just the planned figure, they've had to throw so much money at it since it opened must be twice that now.

[pinstripe]

While the subject of this article is worth discussing, the article itself is riddled with inaccuracies and opinion disguised as facts.

"The volume of letters has fallen 16 million a day down from 68 million a day in 2005"
I thought we were delivering 80 million in 2005

"Royal Mail is, in any case, being overtaken by electronic mail and further decline is inevitable. Latest figures show that it suffered a 72% collapse in half-year profits as a result of the huge drop in the number of letters posted. Royal Mail's postal services reported £66 million losses in the six months to 26th September against £48 million profits a year earlier."
Are you sure? £100m loss in only 6 months solely due to Granny posting fewer letters?

"While it is important to protect the single fee concept to ensure that pensioners and others on low incomes can afford to send letters to friends and family – no matter where they live – very little mail needs to be delivered overnight or six days a week. How many of us would care if we didn’t receive any post on a Saturday? A few businesses perhaps."
This is nothing more than an assumption, based on the authors personal preferences

"But does it matter? And wouldn’t it be better to have a profitable privatised company than stick to outdated practices and concepts of what is acceptable? Nobody running a commercial postal delivery service would promise one fee for delivering anywhere in the country and if you want your mail collected and delivered six days a week you will pay a premium rate."
No, it would be better to have a profitable publicly owned company, promising one fee delivery anywhere in the country, 6 days a week. (But then, that is my personal preference)

[POSTMAN]

– very little mail needs to be delivered overnight or six days a week. How many of us would care if we didn’t receive any post on a Saturday?

I dunno,when we're on strike peeps seem to get pissed with us.

[RedBagMan]

A crazy thought ... maybe ...

Why not make Saturday "D2D Day" ... households and nothing else ...

Just a thought ...