Ofcom proposes shake-up of Royal Mail postal service

Royal Mail could cut delivery days to just three days a week and change first- and second-class services under Ofcom proposals. 

The company's universal service obligation (USO) is to deliver letters daily Monday to Saturday and parcels daily Monday to Friday. Its main universal service products are sent using first class, which is delivered the next day, or second class, which is delivered within three days.

However, as the amount of letters sent has fallen by half – from 14.3 billion in 2011/2012 to 7.3 billion in 2022/2023 – Ofcom, the industry regulator, has called for reforms to ensure the service remains sustainable.

The decrease in the number of letters sent has coincided with an increase in parcel deliveries; however, the cost of meeting its current USO could render the Royal Mail service financially and operationally unsustainable in the long term.

Find out more about the proposed changes and how to complain about a poor postal service. 

Royal Mail reforms

Currently, Ofcom isn't consulting on specific proposals. Some options it set out would require the government and Parliament to change primary legislation, while others could be made through changes to its own regulations.

Ofcom has made two primary suggestions to reform Royal Mail:

• Making changes to first- and second-class services Most letters would be delivered up to three days or longer, with a next-day service still available for any urgent letters.
• Reducing delivery days Letters would be delivered five, or three, days out of seven instead of six.

Ofcom estimates that Royal Mail could save £100m-£200m if the service was reduced to five days, and £400m-£650m if it was reduced to three.

The regulator says the service could achieve net savings of £150m-£650m if the majority of letters were delivered within three days.

Reliable post

According to a survey by Yonder Consulting for Ofcom in October and November 2023, eight in 10 people said that some items would always need to be sent by post. Similarly, an earlier survey conducted between August 2022 and June 2023 by Jigsaw found that three-quarters of those who use postal services said they relied on the post for letters.

However, if the service was reduced, as outlined in one of Ofcom's proposals, it could still meet the majority of people's needs. The Yonder Consulting survey also found that nine in 10 people said reliability was important, compared to six in 10 who said delivery on Saturdays was important. 

A reliable postal service can be critical, and households across the UK have complained of sporadic deliveries leading to important post, such as NHS letters, arriving late. 

Royal Mail faced a £5.6m fine by Ofcom for failing to reach its first- and second-class delivery targets in the 2022/23 financial year. The regulator said that failing to meet its targets had caused 'considerable harm to customers'. 

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How to complain about a delivery

If you have a complaint about a delivery that is late, lost or damaged, then you do have rights.

You can use our free delivery complaints tool to complain about a parcel delivery.

If you want to complain about postal services, you can contact Royal Mail customer services directly. 

Depending on how the post was sent, you may be able to claim compensation for post that was delayed, lost or damaged. 

If you’re unhappy with the outcome, you can escalate your complaint to the Royal Mail Postal Review Panel. The panel can be contacted directly by emailing postalreview@royalmail.com or by writing to Freepost, Postal Review Panel.

If your complaint is still unresolved, you can ask the independent postal redress scheme (POSTRS) to investigate your case.