Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Royal Mail considering ‘bin collection’ style website to help cut services

The company was fined £5.6m last year after delivering 80 per cent of first class post on time

Holly Evans
Sunday 08 September 2024 19:30 BST
Comments
Royal Mail has suggested a website where customers can check what days their letters will be delivered (Rui Vieira/PA)
Royal Mail has suggested a website where customers can check what days their letters will be delivered (Rui Vieira/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Royal Mail is considering launching a “bin collection” style service on their website for households to track which day their mail will be delivered, in a bid to cut back on services.

The company has suggested reducing its second-class deliveries to alternate weekdays, cutting nearly 1,000 jobs and saving £300m a year.

It has been reported that the 507-year-old company has proposed a service where customers can input their postcode to discover when their letters and packages are due.

A senior industry source told The Guardian: “The idea is that it would work in the same way as the bin collection site. Anything Royal Mail can do to show that cuts can be done smoothly and the service can be more predictable and reliable could convince Ofcom.”

The regulator Ofcom is studying the proposals and said last week that second-class letter deliveries could be scrapped on Saturdays.

The company has suggested reducing its second class deliveries to alternate weekdays (John Giles/PA)
The company has suggested reducing its second class deliveries to alternate weekdays (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)

In the three months to 30 June, Royal Mail delivered less than 80 per cent of first-class post on time, with Ofcome fining it £5.6m last year for missing delivery targets.

The industry source added: “Those who rely on the service the most will be those, typically older, people who are not connected to the internet to check when their deliveries are due. Also, if this lists when the post is supposed to be delivered – that’s not a guarantee the delivery will happen given the current state of the service.

They added that the fine for failure last year had been “too small” and that the company should not be allowed to reduce the service without improving reliability.

A Royal Mail spokesperson told The Guardian: “Ahead of any potential reform of the universal service, Royal Mail is exploring a range of options to ensure customers have the information they need about their local postal services.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in