Council’s mail in 200-mile sort-out

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Moray local authority to send its second class post to Coatbridge each week

By emma christie

Published: 23/12/2009

Moray Council’s second-class mail is to be transported more than 200 miles to the central belt for processing as part of a money-saving exercise, it has emerged.

About 6,500 letters will be taken to a processing centre at Coatbridge each week rather than being franked in Moray and passed to the Royal Mail.

Last night the change was challenged by campaign group Friends of the Earth which said environmental issues should be considered alongside financial ones.

The system is being introduced after Procurement Scotland awarded TNT Post a 12-month contract worth about £8million to deal with second-class mail services in the public sector.

Local authorities are not obliged to adopt the system but Moray Council will make the change in the new year.

A spokesman said no council jobs would be lost and insisted it was a good move.

He said: “The council sends out anywhere between 5,000 and 6,500 items of mail by second-class post in a typical week.

“The new arrangement will save the authority a significant amount of money.

“We are satisfied with the environmental credentials of the operators and that the council's carbon footprint will be no greater as a result of the switch.”

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said the service was already on trial at its offices in the Bridge of Don, but the mail was dealt with in Aberdeen, not the central belt.

A spokeswoman for Highland Council said the local authority was currently in discussions with TNT.

Last night north-east Friends of the Earth spokesman Gregor McAbery urged authorities to think twice.

“We would hope that the carbon impacts of additional journeys are considered carefully whenever any contract is considered,” he said.

“Coatbridge is hardly handy for the north-east of Scotland, and I would suspect that centralising in this way would mean more climate change emissions.

“Cost is not the only consideration for public contracts, the wider impact should always be taken into account.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said the move would save the taxpayer about £3million each year and insisted it would not adversely affect the environment.

He said: “The Office of Government Commerce is satisfied with the environmental considerations of TNT.

“As part of the contract, TNT uses existing vehicles and routes that were in place and in use long before the award of the contract.

“Indeed, the contract requires that TNT continually reviews methods to maintain an environmentally aware approach to transport across Scotland.”

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[norbert]

of course it's cheaper , RM are subsidising every TNT letter by 2p , it begs the question why .

TNT are running hub and spoke , they can probably absorb the logistics cost because of the sheer volume .