Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation : A Westminster Hall debate

[POSTMAN]

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... 2022-0243/

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 12 January 2023 at 1.30pm on Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation. The debate will be opened by Kate Osborne MP.

[rambo1]

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... 2022-0243/

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 12 January 2023 at 1.30pm on Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation. The debate will be opened by Kate Osborne MP.

There goes the USO then. The clue is in the second word, 'service' . We are not a service anymore we are a business. A very poorly run one, granted, but still a business. If the government want to maintain this service then they are going to have to ask the taxpayer for money. If not, then they can't go on saddling royal mail with the ball and chain that is the USO. It is just unfair.

[Acca Dacca]

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... 2022-0243/

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 12 January 2023 at 1.30pm on Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation. The debate will be opened by Kate Osborne MP.

There goes the USO then. The clue is in the second word, 'service' . We are not a service anymore we are a business. A very poorly run one, granted, but still a business. If the government want to maintain this service then they are going to have to ask the taxpayer for money. If not, then they can't go on saddling royal mail with the ball and chain that is the USO. It is just unfair.

Spoken like a shareholder

The USO is what keeps many of us in a job

[rambo1]

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... 2022-0243/

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 12 January 2023 at 1.30pm on Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation. The debate will be opened by Kate Osborne MP.

There goes the USO then. The clue is in the second word, 'service' . We are not a service anymore we are a business. A very poorly run one, granted, but still a business. If the government want to maintain this service then they are going to have to ask the taxpayer for money. If not, then they can't go on saddling royal mail with the ball and chain that is the USO. It is just unfair.

Spoken like a shareholder

The USO is what keeps many of us in a job

Used to be a shareholder here, sold them all at 5.80 , I could see what was coming.
As far as keeping us in a job.....have you seen royal mails plans?

[Acca Dacca]

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... 2022-0243/

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 12 January 2023 at 1.30pm on Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation. The debate will be opened by Kate Osborne MP.

There goes the USO then. The clue is in the second word, 'service' . We are not a service anymore we are a business. A very poorly run one, granted, but still a business. If the government want to maintain this service then they are going to have to ask the taxpayer for money. If not, then they can't go on saddling royal mail with the ball and chain that is the USO. It is just unfair.

Spoken like a shareholder

The USO is what keeps many of us in a job

Used to be a shareholder here, sold them all at 5.80 , I could see what was coming.
As far as keeping us in a job.....have you seen royal mails plans?

Yes

reduce the USO

thanks for proving my point

[rambo1]

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... 2022-0243/

A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for 12 January 2023 at 1.30pm on Royal Mail and the future of the universal service obligation. The debate will be opened by Kate Osborne MP.

There goes the USO then. The clue is in the second word, 'service' . We are not a service anymore we are a business. A very poorly run one, granted, but still a business. If the government want to maintain this service then they are going to have to ask the taxpayer for money. If not, then they can't go on saddling royal mail with the ball and chain that is the USO. It is just unfair.

Spoken like a shareholder

The USO is what keeps many of us in a job

Used to be a shareholder here, sold them all at 5.80 , I could see what was coming.
As far as keeping us in a job.....have you seen royal mails plans?

Yes

reduce the USO

thanks for proving my point

Can't you see though that things are not going back to the good old days. That ended when we were privatised. We had no say in that. As a business, you make money or go bust. We are going to struggle to compete with all the other delivery companies whilst we are providing a free service in the form of the USO. Gotta ask yourself, do you want less workforce in a job or soldier on and everyone is out of a job?

[britwrit]

It's being hosted by a Labour MP.

Like many Westminster Hall debates, it'll be a lot of hand-wringing and attacking the government. But who knows? Some interesting tidbits might drop out of it.

[Halfhappy]

Is this the select committee Dave Ward mentioned?

[britwrit]

Westminster Hall debates are where a bunch of MPs get together and ostensibly debate important issues of the day. They can be really interesting, but they're a side show.

A lot of times they're the equivalent of the office water cooler where opposition MPs stand around and vent about about stuff.

[norris9]

So still a while before they decide on going to a 5 day service or not....

My feeling is they won't allow it. Too many businesses/services will be against it.

[Halfhappy]

Thanks for the info britwit. There is a select committee around this time tho, isn't there?

[sledger]

what needs to happen is preventing other so called mail companies from using royal mail for the final mile,that would pull more business into the company,might just compensate were the 6 day service become 5.

[Chitchat]

what needs to happen is preventing other so called mail companies from using royal mail for the final mile,that would pull more business into the company,might just compensate were the 6 day service become 5.

To prolong the USO, compition in the form of DSA needs to stop. And I believe the government needs to be a guarantor against any future losses the USO may make. As it is the government that decides the level of service that is to be provided.

[Spinks182]

Interesting. Kate Osborne actually worked for Royal Mail for 25 years where she was a full time union rep.

[Mickeybrowneyes]

It is out of realms of possibility for the union and the business to approach Parliament with a joint request for subsidising the company in areas that are rural and not cost effective so the USO can remain in tact.
There is an argument that by diluting the USO you hit the local economy of these rural areas. May be in the interest of the government to intervene in the long run....