The South East was the region most affected by letter delays in the past month, with 27% of people not receiving their post on time. Under the Universal Service Obligation (USO), Royal Mail is legally required to deliver letters six days a week, although it is exempt from delivery targets during the Christmas period.
However, aside from this, Royal Mail has not met its annual first- and second-class delivery targets since 2019. The last time Royal Mail achieved a first-class delivery target was in the second quarter of 2019, and a second-class delivery target was last met in the fourth quarter of that year.
Regulator Ofcom is expected to announce proposed changes to the USO in the coming weeks, which could see second-class letter deliveries reduced to alternate weekdays only and could allow Royal Mail to significantly increase charges. Citizens Advice, the statutory watchdog for postal consumers, is urging Ofcom to reform the USO in a way that protects consumers from steep price hikes and ongoing delays.
Consumers are currently forking out more than double what they did five years ago for a first-class stamp while grappling with subpar service standards from Royal Mail, Citizens Advice has claimed. It was revealed that almost a third (29%) of those who use Royal Mail to send and receive letters admitted to cutting back on sending Christmas cards in 2024 due to costly stamps, according to a survey commissioned by the charity.
Tom MacInnes, the director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: "For far too long, letter delays and poor service have become business as usual at Royal Mail.
"Letter delays aren’t just about missed Christmas cards. Millions of people receiving their post late, or not at all, can experience real and worrying consequences – especially when they miss vital medical appointments or bills.
"With the future of our postal service at stake, reforms to the USO come at a critical time. Improving reliability and affordability will be essential. But cutting deliveries won’t automatically lead to the more reliable service people need – nor should they be expected to pay more for a reduced service."
He urged regulators to focus on consumers: "Ofcom has to ensure any revised USO puts consumer needs at its heart – not just Royal Mail’s bottom line."
In response, an Ofcom spokesman assured that consumer interests were paramount: "Consumers are at the heart of our review. We’ve been speaking directly to postal users to understand how the universal service could evolve to reflect what they need from it.
"If we do nothing, the service risks becoming unsustainable, and people could end up paying higher prices than necessary. Whatever the outcome, we are absolutely clear that Royal Mail must invest in its network, become more efficient and improve its service levels."
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "99% of all items posted by the last recommended posting dates were delivered in time for Christmas. This is despite three severe storms that impacted some deliveries, creating challenges that could only be overcome through the hard work of our colleagues.
"While we accept more work is needed, our efforts are yielding results with deliveries improving year on year."
– Yonder conducted a survey of 2,079 UK adults between January 3 and 5.