France to deliver letters just three days a week - while Royal Mail pleads to end six-day service

[simmo11]

https://archive.ph/Of0Yr

Royal Mail faces resistance from ministers to drop to five days a week CREDIT: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire
France is to move to three-days-a-week letter deliveries from the start of next year as ministers in Britain resist pleas from Royal Mail to axe Saturday postal rounds.
Letters will also be delivered within three days in a major shake-up that French bosses say will reduce La Poste's carbon footprint.
Next-day deliveries will only be available if customers email the text to La Poste, which will then print out the letter at a local branch before passing it to a postal worker.
Alongside Germany, the UK is now an outlier in Europe by sticking to a six-day-a-week letters service. Germany’s plans to reduce to a five-day-a-week service under Angela Merkel have stalled under successor Olaf Scholz.
Royal Mail is facing resistance from ministers to drop down to a five-days-a-week letters service. Saturday deliveries are a legal obligation on the FTSE 250 company, meaning any changes must be agreed by Parliament.
But Grant Shapps, the Business Secretary, is refusing to agree to the changes, leading to a stand-off with Royal Mail chairman Keith Williams.
Mr Williams, the former chief executive of British Airways, has said first-class stamps will have to rise “considerably” to pay for Royal Mail deliveries on Saturday.
He said: “The cost to us is driven in part by [the fact that the] volume of letters has declined. You're delivering the same number of letters over six days when you could be doing it over five. So that is forcing up stamp prices.”
Under the equivalent to the UK’s “universal service obligation” – regulations that bind Royal Mail to delivering six-days-a-week – other countries have changed the law to significantly reduce postal rounds for letters.
Italy has moved to an every other day service in rural areas, Norway runs two rounds a week and Denmark only delivers standard class letters once a week.
Royal Mail has estimated it could save between £125m and £225m by scrapping Saturday letter deliveries and says consumers’ needs would not be affected.

[DirtyHarry]

Royal Mail have done nothing but cut costs the last 20 years, while running down the service to make those cuts.
Scrapping the Saturday delivery will make not a blind bit of difference, as a year on from doing it, Thompson, or whatever other cretin is in his place, will be back scrounging for more cuts, depleting the service further.

[matthew68]

Royal Mail have done nothing but cut costs the last 20 years, while running down the service to make those cuts.
Scrapping the Saturday delivery will make not a blind bit of difference, as a year on from doing it, Thompson, or whatever other cretin is in his place, will be back scrounging for more cuts, depleting the service further.

Reality is there is not enough letters being sent and if a country like France which is similar to uk have gone to 3 days a week the writing is on the wall for the uk.if they offer tracked 7 days a week then there will still be a service available if needed. I don’t want this to happen but we have to be realistic that it’s inevitable I’m afraid

[DirtyHarry]

Ok, so while you're out delivering tracked only, who's going to be delivering the sweaty bettys, loaf, sainsburys, waitrose, tesco club card, english heritage, national trust, economist, the week, radio times, and a myriad other stuff that fills up my htc almost every day of the week, the tooth fairy?

The handwritten letter was in decline when I started in the job 20 odd years ago, replaced by all the above, and some!

The decline in handwritten letters is no excuse for the savage cost cutting we have seen the last 20 years, and further cuts they want next year and, you can bank on this, beyond.

[Jefferson Starfish]

And what about the lack of bills, etc?

No more gas bills, electric bills, phone bills, credit card and bank statements.

[matthew68]

Ok, so while you're out delivering tracked only, who's going to be delivering the sweaty bettys, loaf, sainsburys, waitrose, tesco club card, english heritage, national trust, economist, the week, radio times, and a myriad other stuff that fills up my htc almost every day of the week, the tooth fairy?

The handwritten letter was in decline when I started in the job 20 odd years ago, replaced by all the above, and some!

The decline in handwritten letters is no excuse for the savage cost cutting we have seen the last 20 years, and further cuts they want next year and, you can bank on this, beyond.

Unfortunately they are all in decline as people have apps on ther phone for cards. Mail is no where near the levels 10 years ago and we will probably initially only lose Saturday which won’t make hardly any difference and let’s face it no one really expect post every day nowadays

[clashcityrocker]

Is this the same La Poste who use their international arm (DPD) to subsidise their domestic postal service?

[postieblueshirt]

Is this the same La Poste who use their international arm (DPD) to subsidise their domestic postal service?

Unlike IDS.

[enskied]

Royal Mail have done nothing but cut costs the last 20 years, while running down the service to make those cuts.
Scrapping the Saturday delivery will make not a blind bit of difference, as a year on from doing it, Thompson, or whatever other cretin is in his place, will be back scrounging for more cuts, depleting the service further.

Reality is there is not enough letters being sent and if a country like France which is similar to uk have gone to 3 days a week the writing is on the wall for the uk.if they offer tracked 7 days a week then there will still be a service available if needed. I don’t want this to happen but we have to be realistic that it’s inevitable I’m afraid

No the reality is nothing to do with letter volumes, it is about staffing overheads and cutting every corner.
As said before Royal Mail can not deliver the mail with a six day service. So it can not deliver that same mail in five days.
Mail is a red herring, this is all about reducing staff and standards.

[koolishy67]

Ok, so while you're out delivering tracked only, who's going to be delivering the sweaty bettys, loaf, sainsburys, waitrose, tesco club card, english heritage, national trust, economist, the week, radio times, and a myriad other stuff that fills up my htc almost every day of the week, the tooth fairy?

The handwritten letter was in decline when I started in the job 20 odd years ago, replaced by all the above, and some!

The decline in handwritten letters is no excuse for the savage cost cutting we have seen the last 20 years, and further cuts they want next year and, you can bank on this, beyond.

Unfortunately they are all in decline as people have apps on ther phone for cards. Mail is no where near the levels 10 years ago and we will probably initially only lose Saturday which won’t make hardly any difference and let’s face it no one really expect post every day nowadays

Agreed who want 6 days delivery now

[enskied]

Ok, so while you're out delivering tracked only, who's going to be delivering the sweaty bettys, loaf, sainsburys, waitrose, tesco club card, english heritage, national trust, economist, the week, radio times, and a myriad other stuff that fills up my htc almost every day of the week, the tooth fairy?

The handwritten letter was in decline when I started in the job 20 odd years ago, replaced by all the above, and some!

The decline in handwritten letters is no excuse for the savage cost cutting we have seen the last 20 years, and further cuts they want next year and, you can bank on this, beyond.

Unfortunately they are all in decline as people have apps on ther phone for cards. Mail is no where near the levels 10 years ago and we will probably initially only lose Saturday which won’t make hardly any difference and let’s face it no one really expect post every day nowadays

Agreed who want 6 days delivery now

Apparently everyone with a parcel.
Yet my letter could be legal, could contain a cheque for £400. My letter could be more important than a tracked phone case from China.

[matthew68]

Ok, so while you're out delivering tracked only, who's going to be delivering the sweaty bettys, loaf, sainsburys, waitrose, tesco club card, english heritage, national trust, economist, the week, radio times, and a myriad other stuff that fills up my htc almost every day of the week, the tooth fairy?

The handwritten letter was in decline when I started in the job 20 odd years ago, replaced by all the above, and some!

The decline in handwritten letters is no excuse for the savage cost cutting we have seen the last 20 years, and further cuts they want next year and, you can bank on this, beyond.

Unfortunately they are all in decline as people have apps on ther phone for cards. Mail is no where near the levels 10 years ago and we will probably initially only lose Saturday which won’t make hardly any difference and let’s face it no one really expect post every day nowadays

Agreed who want 6 days delivery now

Apparently everyone with a parcel.
Yet my letter could be legal, could contain a cheque for £400. My letter could be more important than a tracked phone case from China.

[matthew68]

Ok, so while you're out delivering tracked only, who's going to be delivering the sweaty bettys, loaf, sainsburys, waitrose, tesco club card, english heritage, national trust, economist, the week, radio times, and a myriad other stuff that fills up my htc almost every day of the week, the tooth fairy?

The handwritten letter was in decline when I started in the job 20 odd years ago, replaced by all the above, and some!

The decline in handwritten letters is no excuse for the savage cost cutting we have seen the last 20 years, and further cuts they want next year and, you can bank on this, beyond.

Unfortunately they are all in decline as people have apps on ther phone for cards. Mail is no where near the levels 10 years ago and we will probably initially only lose Saturday which won’t make hardly any difference and let’s face it no one really expect post every day nowadays

Agreed who want 6 days delivery now

Apparently everyone with a parcel.
Yet my letter could be legal, could contain a cheque for £400. My letter could be more important than a tracked phone case from China.

Well you can get it tracked especially if it’s high value, people need to wake up to reality most I speak to couldn’t care less how many times a week they receive mail things like English hermitage etc are only occasionally sent so how can we have 6 days just for occasional heavy week, I don’t want to lose my job but it has to change from what it is now

[SpacePhoenix]

Yet my letter could be legal, could contain a cheque for £400.

That's what Special Delivery is for

[enskied]

Oh so we have to pay premium or else now.

Court summons, mortgage and deeds, police and medical all have to pay premium or do without. First class can rot.