Postbox Strategy : including Collections on Delivery

[pilchard]

TERMS OF REFERENCE
Postbox Strategy – including Collections on Delivery

Introduction

In line with Delivery Programme of Works - Annex A as contained in the Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success National Agreement between Royal Mail Group and the Communication Workers’ Union, a Collections Joint Working Group has been established to enable success in a dynamic and changing commercial environment and, in particular to address the challenge of increasing collections and delivery competition in letters and parcels. Royal Mail and the CWU share a commitment to continue to deploy revisions in line with the Collections Best Practice revisions guide including Collections on Delivery, working together to develop and deploy new work methods, equipment, processes and structures, including but not limited to, enhanced mail preparation, route consolidation and hub optimisation.

Royal Mail faces an increasingly competitive landscape both in the letters and parcels market. The future success of Royal Mail is dependent upon our ability to offer customers products that meet current and future needs, excellent customer and quality of service, and value for money. Royal Mail and CWU are jointly committed to securing this objective by working together to understand and achieve industry leading performance in all aspects of delivery and collection.

Background

There are currently 115.3k Postboxes across the UK which, under the Universal Service, Royal Mail is obliged to collect from at least once a day, six-days-a-week. Stamped mail volumes have declined by 56% over the past seven years and are forecast to further decline by 8% over the next two years.

The Access Time Specification (ATS), which has not been reviewed since 1996, dictates that 102.5k (89%) of Postboxes have their final collection between 4:00 pm and 7.30 pm, irrespective of posted volumes or location.

Over recent years we have jointly improved efficiency within the current ATS through the Collections Best Practice programme. However, against the background of reduced Postbox usage, any potential further efficiency is constrained by the prevailing ATS.

Scope

The Postbox Strategy is a balanced proposition to deliver a step change in collections efficiency whilst, at the same time, enhancing access for Postbox users. Specifically this will include:

· Changing the ATS will enable final collections from c.45k to 50k low usage Postboxes (less than 50 items per day) to be performed as an integral part of identified delivery routes (i.e. collections on delivery). This will enable efficiency savings whilst maintaining daily collections from all 115.3k existing Postboxes.

· The installation of new Postboxes in some rural and new build areas not currently served by an existing Postbox within ½ mile and in high footfall locations will provide customers with improved access and make it easier and more convenient for them to post letters.

· Retaining the facility for customers in rural areas to hand letters to their delivery postmen/women and, examining the feasibility of extending this via trials to urban areas. This will also be subject to a new campaign highlighting this facility to customers.

To support the above, the Collections Joint Working Group will maintain the commitment to deploy revisions in line with the Collections Best Practice: Revisions Guide. Also, all existing national agreements, joint statements and guidelines covering Collections and any affected functional agreements will be adhered to and remain in place.

Information / Involvement

The Collections Joint Working Group will adopt the following way of working, which is not exhaustive or exclusive, and may be expanded through mutual agreement:

· Royal Mail will share all information with CWU relating to the Postbox Strategy including:

· The data used to identify low usage Postboxes to be moved to collections on delivery
· The data used to identify and locate new Postboxes in areas currently not served by an existing Postbox within ½ mile and high footfall positions.
· Ongoing Impact on the number of Collection Routes in each location
· The time required for Postboxes to be cleared whilst on Delivery
· The impact on Saturday collections and meeting the USO requirements will be shared as part of the local revision process including connectivity with final mail centre feeder services.

· The Collections Best Practice: Revisions Guide will be jointly reviewed to incorporate any enhancements required for Collections on Delivery.

· Royal Mail will develop and share with CWU a detailed activity plan for Postbox Strategy included a detailed programme of collection revisions.

· The deployment of the Postbox Strategy will be jointly communicated through national and locally agreed briefings, and joint communications.

· In line with the prevailing Collections Best Practice: Revisions Guide, local CWU representatives will be provided with adequate release from duty to be fully engaged in the planning and deployment of collection revisions.

Agreed Approach

The proposed approach for deploying the Postbox Strategy is outlined below. This will be subject to refinement through consultation, detailed planning and feedback through the deployment phase.

· Identification of low usage Postboxes to be moved to collection on delivery; each subject to a minimum volume threshold (less than 50 items per day) and alternative late final collection within ½ mile.

· Identification of new Postboxes in areas currently not served by an existing Postbox within ½ mile.

· Identification of new Postboxes in high footfall / high profile locations.

· Re-plating of all low usage Postboxes moving to collection on delivery will be undertaken at the start of programme undertaken by the collection drivers in the majority of locations or where Romec assistance is required.

· Low usage Postboxes mapped to delivery routes and factored into delivery workload

· Georoute enabled revisions, following the Collections Best Practice: Revisions Guide will be planned and deployed in the larger c.500 collection Units over a 12 month period. Deployment of the revision will be agreed locally and progress monitored through the Collections JWG.

· Table-top revisions, following the Collections Best Practice: Revisions Guide planned and deployed in parallel with the larger units in the remaining smaller collection Units, over a 12 month period. Deployment of the revision will be agreed locally and progress monitored through the Collections JWG.

· New Postboxes to be installed in line with the respective collection revisions or provision made within the new routes or existing walks to accommodate these.

· Quality of service will not be adversely affected in any location.

· Impact on the changes to mail flow and potential arrival profiling within Mail Centres will be shared as part of the local revision process

· Mail arrivals and despatches will not adversely impact on duty structures and attendance patterns in any location

Deployment

All information identified above will be shared with the National Collections Joint Working Group, and a data pack produced which will identify the number of low volume Postboxes and their location. A similar data pack will be produced for each Plant Collections Managers catchment area to provide the basis for local discussions.

Area/Local Cross Functional Joint Working Groups will be established in each Plant Collection Manager’s catchment area. These will ensure CWU Representatives and Managers for the functions affected are fully involved in the deployment process and ongoing monitoring of the programme. This will enable everyone to be fully aware of the impact within their respective areas of responsibility.

The objective of the Area/Local Cross Functional JWG will be to successfully deploy the strategy/programme whilst at the same time retaining a predominately full-time workforce, protecting earnings opportunities where required and job security in line with existing national agreements. It is jointly recognised that to deliver the strategy/programme on all counts may require a degree of flexibility in the planning and application, taking into consideration any potential changes to attendance patterns/duty structures.

The Area/local Cross Functional JWG will also need to consider if there may be a need to simultaneously perform a non binding preference exercise for all sites affected within the Plant Collection Managers catchment area.

Changes to local duty sets will be agreed locally in line with the IR framework. The Area/Local Cross Functional Joint Working Group will support this process as and when required and any issues of interpretation will be sent to the National Collections Joint Working Group.

Review

The deployment of the Postbox Strategy/programme will be jointly overseen, monitored and refined throughout, and any emerging issues resolved with reference to existing national agreements, joint statements and guidelines where appropriate.

In addition to the review at National and Area/Local level, feedback on the Postbox Strategy/programme will be a regular feature of the Collections Joint Working Group, who will provide regular updates of progress against this initiative to the Integrated Delivery Programme Steering Group and Agenda for Growth Programme Board.





Signed……………………………………. Signed………………………………………
Kevin Cooper - Royal Mail Bob Gibson - CWU


Date 8th July 2014

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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