Major change to Royal Mail’s daily post revealed in bombshell new plan that could see up to 1,000 job losses
A MAJOR change to Royal Mail’s daily post has been revealed in a new bombshell plan that could see 1,000 job losses.
The Royal Mail has outlined cuts to second-class letters by delivering them on only every other weekday.
The announcement could result in 1,000 job losses if approved.
The proposal is currently before Ofcom, the regulator overseeing the future of the universal postal service after it made a £419m loss last year.
An update is due from Ofcom this summer, but in the meantime businesses and consumers have had a chance to give feedback.
Ofcom has submitted its own proposal, which includes maintaining the one-price-goes-anywhere service for the whole UK.
It would also keep a six-day-a-week service for first-class mail in a climb down on previous calls for all Saturday letter deliveries to be scrapped.
Royal Mail would also change deliveries of all non-first class letters to every other weekday.
The plans also include extending the delivery time for bulk business mail to three days instead of two, which Royal Mail believes could save it up to £300 million annually.
Parcels would continue to be delivered seven days a week, as they are currently.
The number of daily delivery routes could be reduced by between 7,000 and 9,000 within two years, potentially leading to job cuts.
But, Royal Mail predicted that “fewer than 1,000” voluntary redundancies would happen with no compulsory redundancies.
It claimed the proposals would not need a change in legislation, given it would still be delivering first-class post six days a week and called for Ofcom to put the changes in place by April next year.
Royal Mail stated: “The proposal is designed to create a more financially stable future for the business and its shareholders, protecting tens of thousands of jobs and the best terms and conditions in the industry.
“It closely aligns to changes successfully made in comparable countries in Europe and around the world over recent years, with limited changes for customers.”
Royal Mail, which was split from the Post Office and privatised a decade ago, is legally obliged to deliver a one-price-goes-anywhere “universal service”.