“They seem to be rolling over to what Royal Mail wants and basically endorsing the very poor performance of Royal Mail up to now, rather than insisting that Royal Mail sticks with its contract.
“I think we need to realise that we are talking about a public service and just because it has been privatised we need to realise that Royal Mail should be providing a public service rather than stonking great profits for its shareholders.”
In a statement, Ofcom set out two options for Royal Mail to save millions of pounds and improve the current service. The first option being scrapping the six-day format to see letters delivered five or even three days a week.
The second option includes having letters delivered three days later for first and second-class mail. This could save Royal Mail between £100million and £650million, according to the regulator.
But Mr Reed says that this level of service is already a reality for many of his members.
He said: “A lot of people don’t get post delivered on a Saturday and quite often just get deliveries two or three times a week now, everybody has the same story.
“They don’t get post for two or three days and then get a big pile as it’s obviously being stored up. It’s not good.”
Mr Reed said a reliable postal service was vital for older people, who “rely on the post more”.
He said: “There’s a good one to two million people who don’t have the internet and they rely on the post for vital things.
“A lot of older people trust the post more than the internet and would rather receive a letter in the post than an email.”
Using the postal service for everything from greetings cards to medical information and bills is essential when it comes to those over 60, he said.
If the service is reduced then members of Silver Voices will be “extremely upset”.
He said: “It’s a chicken and an egg – the more they reduce the service the less people will use it.”
Royal Mail, which was privatised between 2013 and 2015, is legally obliged to deliver a universal service, which means it currently has to deliver letters six days per week, Monday to Saturday.
Earlier this week, the Government said it would not support Royal Mail scrapping postal deliveries on Saturdays, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman arguing they were “important for businesses and particularly publishers”.
