- Royal Mail missed its postal targets for both first and second-class mail between 29 September and 30 November, with only 77.5 per cent of first-class and 91.6 per cent of second-class letters delivered on time.
- These figures fall short of regulator Ofcom's benchmarks, which mandate 93 per cent of first-class post and 98.5 per cent of second-class post to be delivered within their respective timeframes.
- Royal Mail chief executive Alistair Cochrane admitted that letter delivery performance is “still not good enough” and emphasised the urgent need for Universal Service reform.
- The postal service is pushing for the immediate implementation of changes, including the scrapping of Saturday second-class deliveries, which Ofcom approved last year.
- Royal Mail is engaged in intensive talks with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) to reach an agreement on rolling out these changes nationwide, following concerns raised by MPs about “chaos” in the postal service.
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