Royal Mail have gone up again today (April 7). The cost of a standard first-class stamp has climbed from £1.65 to £1.70, a 5p increase, while standard second-class stamps have risen from 85p to 87p, a 2p rise.
The price of a large first class stamp has risen from £2.60 to £3.15, while the cost of a large second class stamp remains the same at £1.55. It marks the sixth time stamp prices have increased in three years. The cost of other services - such as “Signed For” and “Tracked” - have also increased from today. Royal Mail blamed the price rises on fewer letters being delivered.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: "We always consider price changes very carefully but the cost of delivering mail continues to increase. A complex and extensive network of trucks, planes and 85,000 posties is needed to ensure we can deliver across the country for just 87p."
It comes after regulator Ofcom announced plans to reduce the number of days Royal Mail will delivery second class letters. It wants to reduce to service to alternate weekdays, and scrap second class deliveries entirely on Saturdays. First class post would still be delivered six days a week, Monday to Saturday.
Royal Mail said the number of letters being delivered has fallen from 20 billion twenty years ago, to 6.6 billion today - and expects this to drop further to four billion in the next few years. Ofcom estimates that cutting down the number of second class deliveries would save Royal Mail between £250million and £425million.
However, the regulator warned Royal Mail must still improve its service. Royal Mail has been fined more than £16million in the last 18 months over poor performance and missing delivery targets. Ofcom is suggesting reducing the number of first class mail that must be delivered the next day from 93% to 90%, and from 98.5% to 95% for second class mail delivered within three days.
This will bring them more in line with other international and European markets, it added. The regulator has opened a consultation on the changes and expects to publish a final decision this summer. Natalie Black, Ofcom Group Director for Networks and Communications, said: “The has changed – we’re sending a third of the letters we were twenty years ago.
“We need to reform the postal service to protect its future and ensure it delivers for the whole of the UK. But we’re safeguarding what matters most to people – First Class mail six days a week at the same price throughout the UK, and a price cap on Second Class stamps.”
Emma Gilthorpe, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail said: “Ofcom has recognised the urgent need for change so that the future of the Universal Service can be protected for all. Our proposal was developed after speaking to thousands of people across the country and is designed to preserve what matters most for our customers - maintaining a one-price-goes-anywhere service to 32 million UK addresses and First Class deliveries six days a week.
“As Ofcom’s analysis shows, it is no longer financially sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering 6.7 billion. Reform is crucial to support a modern, sustainable, and reliable postal service for our customers, our company and our people.”
Amanda Fergusson, chief executive of the Greeting Card Association, said: “Here we go again. Yet again Royal Mail is asking people to keep paying more, for less, demonstrating the urgency behind our call for MPs to investigate Ofcom and Royal Mail’s plan to weaken the service.
“Our members – and their customers – know imminent plans to slash second-class services will leave them reliant on a first-class stamp at runaway prices. It’s time for MPs to act – they must make sure Royal Mail isn’t given carte blanche to make the postal service less reliable and unaffordable.”
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