Postcomm asks customers what they want from a universal service
10 April 2003
Postcomm has launched a three-month consultation to find out what users expect from the universal postal service currently provided by Royal Mail.
A document published by Postcomm today invites postal users for the first time to comment on the universal service, to say what matters to them, and how they expect the service to develop – for example in response to changes in technology.
UK legislation sets the minimum requirement for a universal postal service as at least one collection and one delivery of mail each working day at an affordable and geographically uniform price. But as competition in postal services develops, with full market opening in 2007, Postcomm wants to identify more clearly which services must be included in the universal service which Postcomm is committed to safeguarding.
Until now, there has been no detailed definition of the universal service. It is currently taken to include more than 100 different products provided by Royal Mail — from first and second class letters to the handling of specialised business mail. This consultation is the first step to defining what should be included. Postcomm plans to issue a policy statement at the end of the year.
Graham Corbett, Chairman of Postcomm said:
“Postcomm’s number one priority is to ensure the preservation of the universal postal service, which Parliament has decreed must lie at the centre of postal services in the UK. As competition develops and the market provides customers with different products, we – and customers -- need to be clear about which services should constitute the universal service and therefore be subject to safeguards whilst provided at a geographically uniform price."
“It is primarily for users of postal services, not Postcomm, to say how they want services to develop, and I hope domestic and business users will let us have their views. Once we have them we will move forward to consult on a definition of the universal service.”
Notes for editors
Today’s consultation follows informal preliminary discussions with the consumer body Postwatch and others and is the first stage of a formal review which will proceed through a series of consultations over the coming year.
In the light of responses to this consultation, Postcomm plans to issue a document in the summer setting out its proposals on what should constitute the universal service and, in turn, which services Royal Mail (currently the sole provider of the universal service in the UK) should be required to provide. By the end of 2003, Postcomm expects to issue a formal statement setting out its view.
The European Postal Service Directive sets minimum requirements for a universal service within member states. A geographically uniform price is not compulsory in Europe, although most member states opt for one – in the UK it is a legal requirement. It is left to member states to decide exactly what services to include in their universal service.
The consultation document The universal postal service in the UK: what services should be provided? is available from Postcomm at 6 Hercules Road, London SE1 7DB.
