Committee publication · Correspondence · 22 April 2026

Letter from Royal Mail relating to the Quality of Service Improvement Plan for the Postal Universal Service, 21 April 2026

Summary

Royal Mail writes to the Business and Trade Committee to share its Quality of Service Improvement Plan for the Postal Universal Service ahead of its publication on 21 April 2026. The plan outlines how Royal Mail will improve service standards following a new delivery model rollout, backed by a £500 million five-year investment funded by Universal Service regulation changes and equivalent to around 3,000 full-time posties annually.

Key findings

Royal Mail commits £500 million over five years to improve service quality, funded by savings from Ofcom's Universal Service regulation changes
The plan addresses completion rates of delivery routes as the primary driver of delays, with support for lowest-performing delivery offices
Investment equivalent to 3,000 full-time posties per year, plus 6,000 part-time posties gaining opportunity to increase weekly hours
Agreement reached with Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite CMA on deployment of regulatory changes and new delivery model
Measures include targeted support for underperforming offices, additional sick absence management investment, and strengthened daily performance management

Tone

Procedural

Topics

postal-servicespublic-serviceslabour-relationsregulation

Key actors

Royal Mail Group Ltd, Liam Byrne MP, Alistair Cochrane, Communication Workers Union (CWU), Unite CMA, Ofcom, David Gold

Notable line

“Royal Mail will be investing £500 million over five years.”

Key Quotes

“The plan sets out how Royal Mail will achieve a consistently higher standard of service following the rollout of a new delivery model.”
— David Gold · describing the scope of the Quality of Service Improvement Plan

“The £500 million investment will be funded by savings from the Universal Service changes and is equivalent to around 3,000 full-time posties a year.”
— David Gold · explaining the funding source and scale of the investment

“This investment, including c.6,000 part-time posties having the opportunity to increase their average weekly hours, will ensure the right resource is in the right place to cover every route every day.”
— David Gold · detailing how the workforce will be deployed under the plan

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗