Partnership raises postal concerns

The Orkney Community Planning Partnership has expressed opposition to proposals to give the Royal Mail greater freedom to set prices for postal deliveries.

The partnership is concerned about the potential impact and believes customers in the islands could end up paying more for postal services than those in more urban areas of the UK.

“While we recognise the need to improve the financial performance of the Royal Mail, the Universal Postal Service must be secured to ensure that the less-populated and more remote rural and island areas are not disadvantaged,” said partnership chairman, Councillor Stephen Hagan.

In its response to a consultation on the plans, OCPP states: “The Orkney community has already witnessed the negative discrimination which has resulted from the deregulation of the parcel delivery service. This has led to excessive charges for the supply of goods to the islands with, in many cases, UK businesses refusing to supply goods to addresses in the area.”

The partnership says it is unacceptable for businesses to decline to supply goods (particularly small packages) to addresses in the Highlands and Islands when an accessible, affordable and effective UK-wide service is provided by the Royal Mail – and calls on Ofcom to rectify this.

“Not only would that go some way towards protecting these remote areas from the increased urbanisation of the UK’s courier services, but the Royal Mail could become more competitive and more efficient as a result,” the response adds.