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Universal Postal Service At Risk
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I predicted this when the Royal Mail was privatised a few months ago. So why was it hived off in the first place ? Not even Mrs Voldemort would touch it and yet dave did ! What a shambles !
I predicted this when the Royal Mail was privatised a few months ago. So why was it hived off in the first place ? Not even Mrs Voldemort would touch it and yet dave did ! What a shambles !
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The postal service had been allowed to be cherry picked well before folk opted to buy Royal Mail from the government. I don't see there should be any risk at all since it is an obligation, it was bought knowing it was an obligation, and has no reason not to remain an obligation. This was part of the goal surely ? To allow friends in the delivery industry to get benefits from an open market, and then find others to buy up RM ? If they want to give it back ...
//The postal service had been allowed to be cherry picked well before folk opted to buy Royal Mail from the government//
Yes Old _Geezer - i know that .
The regulator opened up the market a few years ago now .
My point is that if you wish to have any kind of 'universal ' service ( a public or privately owned RM ) needed to be in a position where it can compete in foreign markets , the same way and to the same extent that these foreign companies can , in the uk .
No use opening the door to the wolves and then complaining when they come in and start running amok
Yes Old _Geezer - i know that .
The regulator opened up the market a few years ago now .
My point is that if you wish to have any kind of 'universal ' service ( a public or privately owned RM ) needed to be in a position where it can compete in foreign markets , the same way and to the same extent that these foreign companies can , in the uk .
No use opening the door to the wolves and then complaining when they come in and start running amok
When a government makes a deliberate decision to open up a profitable part of it's publicly owned monopoly postal service to competition, then they have made a deliberate decision to saddle the taxpayer with subsidising the remaining less profitable part: unless, that is, they can get another bunch of investors to take that obligation on for them (no subsidies).
It isn't a question as to whether tax payers should pay for it, that was already committed to by the government that chose that path on behalf of the public. I think this was an example of the utter foolishness of the government of the day; but the public gets the politicians they vote for. The rest of us have to put up with the majority voter decision.
If the private investors that bought RM are now complaining that the obligation is at risk (which presumably can only mean they have made an appalling investment and are likely to go bankrupt) then there is little that can be done to continue to safeguard a vital service to the public. If they wish to take the loss and hand it back then any decent government has no choice but to take the responsibility as no one else is going to invest.
In that case, as a public service it has then to be funded publicly: but it will no longer have the ability to cross subsidise from the more profitable areas that the government of the day effectively passed over to investors.
Unless, of course, a government had the courage to close the market once more and return to a public postal monopoly and sanity. But that's unlikely. Folk are keen to have a choice in parcel courier now, so have to pay the price in funding the less profitable remaining mail service.
It isn't a question as to whether tax payers should pay for it, that was already committed to by the government that chose that path on behalf of the public. I think this was an example of the utter foolishness of the government of the day; but the public gets the politicians they vote for. The rest of us have to put up with the majority voter decision.
If the private investors that bought RM are now complaining that the obligation is at risk (which presumably can only mean they have made an appalling investment and are likely to go bankrupt) then there is little that can be done to continue to safeguard a vital service to the public. If they wish to take the loss and hand it back then any decent government has no choice but to take the responsibility as no one else is going to invest.
In that case, as a public service it has then to be funded publicly: but it will no longer have the ability to cross subsidise from the more profitable areas that the government of the day effectively passed over to investors.
Unless, of course, a government had the courage to close the market once more and return to a public postal monopoly and sanity. But that's unlikely. Folk are keen to have a choice in parcel courier now, so have to pay the price in funding the less profitable remaining mail service.
The lucrative city deliveries helped pay for deliveries in the far north of Scotland or the tip of Cornwall. Now that the best have been opened to competition the more difficult will suffer.
Could mail not be held in post offices for people who live in the sticks to come in once in a while and collect?
Could mail not be held in post offices for people who live in the sticks to come in once in a while and collect?
Innevitable that commercial priorities will want to service only th eprofitable roots, that;s why Royal mail among other things need to be state run, sadly, certain things need to be run on soclialist principles, not many I grant but some do, snail mail is one, for small letters. For parcells go to hermes et al for the real price.
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If they try that divebuddy then if the government does not step in and remind them it is sacrosanct and prevent it, then the government will hopefully lose the next few dozen elections. i am under the impression it was an obligation and condition of taking the business over, not that I read the contract in full.
My belief is that they need to change the business model as they are too cost laden, a bit like the NHS - a challenge to any ex post delivery folk and/or sorting office workers on here - how many layers of organisation are there in the Royal Snail between the lowest rung and Moya Green? I would love to hear and compare with other industries.
Anyway, what should change is that the out-of-town services should be spun out into the hands of individuals within villages and areas to work as self-employed, an initial set-up with vans, a franchise operation and targets/standards etc - taking away all the extraneous overheads that hit the organisation and personalising their deliveries (and pick-ups) within the local community.
Anyway, what should change is that the out-of-town services should be spun out into the hands of individuals within villages and areas to work as self-employed, an initial set-up with vans, a franchise operation and targets/standards etc - taking away all the extraneous overheads that hit the organisation and personalising their deliveries (and pick-ups) within the local community.
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It's not all cherry picking - here's someone in the tip of Cornwall, well nearly, who can ship a 2kg to 20kg parcel for £5-75 and the cheapest the Parcel Post can get to for 2kg is £8 to £9-10 with a rapidly rising weight price, whereas Fedex is a flat rate up to 20kg - and that's anywhere in the UK.
Therein lieth the issue and it was the same with USPS versus UPS, Fedex et al in the USA until USPS redefined its costs and service structure.
Therein lieth the issue and it was the same with USPS versus UPS, Fedex et al in the USA until USPS redefined its costs and service structure.
//We need someone like postdog to answer this.....lowest level of the Royal Mail to the CEO, how many layers? I'm betting 14 to 15...... //
I think you'll find that it is not as simple as that - for a start the Royal Mail Group , consists of several companies , which are not all dedicated to postal operations
I think you'll find that it is not as simple as that - for a start the Royal Mail Group , consists of several companies , which are not all dedicated to postal operations
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