Royal Mail to be privatised or sold, government says

BlondeHeadOn

I don't know why I am surprised by this....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11258649

"The government is to press ahead with privatising the Royal Mail.
Business Secretary Vince Cable made the commitment after receiving updated recommendations from the businessman Richard Hooper.
His latest report says the universal postal service can only be maintained by an injection of private sector money and expertise.
He also repeated his call for the Royal Mail's pension scheme, which has an £8bn deficit, to be nationalised.
"Royal Mail is facing a combination of potentially lethal challenges - falling mail volumes, low investment, not enough efficiency and a dire pension position," said Mr Cable.
"We will come forward with new legislation in the autumn. "

darkblue_2

About damn time, too.

bendix

Quite right too. It's the only sensible option. Its hopelessly inefficient compared to much better models like Belgian Poste, and there is no reason why the taxpayer should be held responsible for the pension liability.

Does anyone actually post letters these days?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

bendix wrote: »

Does anyone actually post letters these days?

Yes, to my elderly relatives, who love receiving postcards and letters.

At work we use couriers regularly for important documents and samples, and general freight mail. Not everything can be done by email.

I don't care how it's run, but a country's national mail service should provide the same level of service to ALL citizens. Those who live in rural areas should not be penalised and have to pay more because it's unprofitable to send a letter from Devon to Aberdeenshire for the same price as one across Manchester.

Optimist

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

I don't know why I am surprised by this....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11258649

"The government is to press ahead with privatising the Royal Mail.
Business Secretary Vince Cable made the commitment after receiving updated recommendations from the businessman Richard Hooper.
His latest report says the universal postal service can only be maintained by an injection of private sector money and expertise.
He also repeated his call for the Royal Mail's pension scheme, which has an £8bn deficit, to be nationalised.
"Royal Mail is facing a combination of potentially lethal challenges - falling mail volumes, low investment, not enough efficiency and a dire pension position," said Mr Cable.
"We will come forward with new legislation in the autumn. "

Why ever would you be surprised ? It is something the previous government wanted to do, It was only the threat by the CWU to end its £1 million donation to the Labour party that caused them to back track

bendix

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Yes, to my elderly relatives, who love receiving postcards and letters.

At work we use couriers regularly for important documents and samples, and general freight mail. Not everything can be done by email.

I don't care how it's run, but a country's national mail service should provide the same level of service to ALL citizens. Those who live in rural areas should not be penalised and have to pay more because it's unprofitable to send a letter from Devon to Aberdeenshire for the same price as one across Manchester.

A postal service is needed, for sure, but there's no need for it to be state owned. My firm uses a postal service, but we use the private one. Much cheaper, much more efficient - no fuss.

As for the oldies liking mail.

Yes, i suspect that's right. Will be interesting to revisit this in 25 years though when - not to put too morbid a spin on it - those who remain wedded to the notion of letters and cards will not be around.

Looking back to 1985, who would have predicted the ubiquity of email and other electronic communications?

marklv

bendix wrote: »

Quite right too. It's the only sensible option. Its hopelessly inefficient compared to much better models like Belgian Poste, and there is no reason why the taxpayer should be held responsible for the pension liability.

Does anyone actually post letters these days?

Loads of people still post letters, you arrogant lawyer p-r-i-c-k.

Privatising RM will mean mail being delivered less frequently (i.e. twice a week probably if you are a residential address), more mail being lost or stolen and higher delivery prices.

In fairness, private delivery services work very well in the US, but only because the infrastructure has been around for ages and the companies can make economies of scale when in such a huge market. In the UK they will struggle to deliver at competitive prices.

Blacklight

Just heard some northerner on the radio going on about how the government should add more to the deficit bill by bailing them out of the pension mess they're in. No surprise he turned out to be from the union.

Sorry pal but the days of government being held to ransom by whinging unions are well and truly over. How much does it cost to be in a union these days? Are they surplus to requirement now?

darkblue_2

marklv wrote: »

Loads of people still post letters, you arrogant lawyer p-r-i-c-k.

Privatising RM will mean mail being delivered less frequently (i.e. twice a week probably if you are a residential address), more mail being lost or stolen and higher delivery prices.

In fairness, private delivery services work very well in the US, but only because the infrastructure has been around for ages and the companies can make economies of scale when in such a huge market. In the UK they will struggle to deliver at competitive prices.

Where are you getting the figure of twice per week deliveries?

To be honest, the Royal Mail as it is cannot go on much longer. Their up to their eyes in debt and are completely ineffectual. It's about time someone turned it into a profit making organisation where the employees have accountability instead of hiding behind their trade unions.

Let privatisation crush them once and for all.

Loanranger

On Radio 4 lunchtime news today, Billy Hayes the leader of the Communication Workers Union, the Royal Mail union, has said he wants the government to take over Royal Mail's pension deficit.
That's £8 billion of taxpayers money to prop up a failing monopoly.

Has Billy Hayes not been paying attention?

The government inherited the biggest budget deficit in living memory and yesterday announced cuts to welfare budget of £4billion.
Where exactly does Mr Hayes think the money to fund his members' pension shortfall will come from?

bendix

marklv wrote: »

Loads of people still post letters, you arrogant lawyer p-r-i-c-k.

Privatising RM will mean mail being delivered less frequently (i.e. twice a week probably if you are a residential address), more mail being lost or stolen and higher delivery prices.

In fairness, private delivery services work very well in the US, but only because the infrastructure has been around for ages and the companies can make economies of scale when in such a huge market. In the UK they will struggle to deliver at competitive prices.

Do they? Perhaps in the public sector, but not in the real world, marky warky, my old dear.

As for private companies not doing it competitive prices, on the contrary. The private company we use is much more competitive than RM, both on price and service.

Otherwise we wouldn't use it. Stands to reason.