Postal Services Bill Amendments Report (1st Day)

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 0494001512" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RTP]

Jesus....so what's the jist of all that lot Terrier?

[RTP]

Had another skim through it.

At least the fiasco that's going on in the Netherlands gets a mention.

I mentioned the Netherlands at Second Reading. Four companies now handle the Netherlands' mail. The people of that country can expect to receive mail delivered from these four companies. There is the half-orange post, which is owned by TNT. It delivers six days a week. There is the blue post, a company called Sandd-an acronym for the "sort and delivery" postal service. It delivers two days a week. There is the yellow company, Selekt, jointly owned by Deutsche Post and DHL, which delivers twice a week. That company is interesting because it has never made a profit and is now, it hopes, going to be sold. It is run by home workers, who sort and deliver at and from their homes. The legal low limit for pay in the Netherlands is between £8 and £9 an hour, but this company is very careful to ensure that none of its workers reaches that figure and that they are kept on a monthly basis below the rate that is required by the Netherlands Government of £580 a month. They are seeking now to sell it to Sandd.

The fourth company is called half-orange, which is owned by TNT, and it calls once a week. Again, that is interesting, because there we have TNT competing with itself. Why? Because it is using not full-time post staff but casual labour. This is not something that is happening in a third world country. It simply carries the somewhat dogmatic belief that we can privatise and get competition and that it always works best. I do not think we want to risk anything like what has happened in the Netherlands happening in this country. If the Government do not make it clear in the Bill that the likes of this will not be tolerated and that that is provided for in the Bill, I will think there is something seriously wrong with the Bill-and if things go the wrong way, we will know exactly who is responsible for that.