Royal Mail has postponed the final stage of its second-class delivery reforms until 11 January 2027, following an agreement with the Communication Workers Union. The decision affects 107 delivery offices that have yet to introduce the new arrangements, which remove Saturday second-class letter deliveries and move the service to alternate weekdays.
The postponement comes amid continued criticism of Royal Mail’s performance and pressure from the Government to improve delivery standards. The company had intended to complete its nationwide restructuring before Christmas but has now agreed to delay the remaining changes while preparing for the festive period.
Royal Mail Pauses Changes at 107 Delivery Offices
According to The Independent, Royal Mail has introduced its revised delivery model at nearly 1,100 offices, covering around 90 per cent of its network. A further 15 offices are expected to adopt the arrangements on 2 November, while implementation at the remaining 107 sites will be deferred until January.
The changes form part of a wider restructuring of the postal service. Under the revised system, second-class letters are delivered on alternate weekdays rather than following the previous delivery schedule. Saturday deliveries of second-class letters are also being removed.
Royal Mail described the decision to delay the final stage as a “pragmatic approach“, intended to maintain progress on its operational reforms while allowing staff to concentrate on Christmas deliveries.
Chief executive Alistair Cochrane said the company was beginning to see improvements following the introduction of the new system.
“First-class quality of service has improved by 9%, and offices operating under the new delivery model are delivering to around 95% of addresses each day on average, compared with 88% before rollout began,” he said.
Cochrane acknowledged that further improvements were needed but expressed confidence that the restructuring would support more reliable and efficient deliveries.
The company is also recruiting 22,000 temporary workers to assist with transporting, sorting and delivering additional mail during the Christmas period.
Delivery Targets Remain Under Scrutiny As Government Demands Improvements
The postponement follows renewed criticism of Royal Mail’s performance, including concerns raised by the Communication Workers Union and Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
According to the same source, Royal Mail delivered 85 per cent of first-class letters the following day during the first quarter of the year, falling short of Ofcom’s 90 per cent target. Figures reported also showed that 91.4 per cent of second-class letters arrived within three working days, below the regulator’s 95 per cent requirement.
Both figures nevertheless represented improvements on the same period a year earlier, when 76 per cent of first-class and 89.3 per cent of second-class letters arrived within their respective deadlines.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Burnham described Royal Mail’s service as “unacceptable for far too long” and warned that ministers could consider further measures unless standards improved.
The Communication Workers Union has also called for an emergency summit concerning the organisation’s future.
Royal Mail has already committed £500 million towards improving service quality over five years. It has separately announced plans to cut 2,500 head office and supporting roles, representing approximately 2 per cent of its workforce. Frontline postal workers are excluded from those proposals.
For now, the final stage of the second-class delivery restructuring remains scheduled for 11 January, following the Christmas period.
