After Ofcom's consultations on the Royal Mail service obligations in recent years and ahead of a discussion in Westminster Hall, the Countryside Alliance has shared a briefing note about rural postal services.
The full briefing note can be downloaded here, and the key points have been summarised below.
- A well-functioning Royal Mail postal service and Post Office branch network both
continue to provide a lifeline for rural communities.
- The Countryside Alliance is keen to see the universal postal service maintained in
its current form and welcomes the Ofcom’s decision to make no changes to the
underlying obligation on the Royal Mail.
- We have consistently argued that if commercial pressures were to make the
continuation of the universal postal service unviable in the remotest communities,
we would prefer to see a slight reduction in the number of delivery days as opposed
to any change to the obligation to keep prices at uniform levels.
- We therefore welcome that Ofcom has maintained the one-price-goes-anywhere
model and decided only to allow a reduction in deliveries of Second Class post.
- The Post Office network offers an important means of accessing cash, either using
its own financial products or because it provides access to current and business
accounts offered by other banks.
- The expansion of financial, government and other parcel services through post
offices could replace lost banking and financial services to rural communities and
small businesses, ensuring the long-term viability of the network, keeping the Post
Office at the centre of rural community life.