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 21 August 2008 21:32 BST

Postal service 'can save £31 million'

Friday, 24 Mar 2006 00:01
Postal service 'can save £31 million'
Britain's public sector is overspending on postal services to the tune of £31 million, it has been claimed.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) showed that average spending per item of 28p compared poorly to the financial and utilities sectors, which spent 22p and 20.4p respectively.

Four main areas of savings were identified by the report, including £9 million by sending mail through second rather than first class, £9 million by making civil servants sort and prepare their own mail and £4.5 million by cutting down on poorly addressed "undeliverable" mail.

"Although much work has already been done to reduce costs, there is much still to do if public bodies are to be smarter customers, both of Royal Mail and of the new entrants in the liberalised market," commented the head of the NAO, Sir John Bourn.

"There is scope for significant savings by taking some relatively straight-forward measures, and there is no reason why the public sector cannot achieve the £31 million annual savings identified in the report, representing five per cent of their total mail costs, and aspire to cost levels closer to those enjoyed by the best of the private sector."

Over a third of the public sector's annual £650 million expenditure on mail is sent by the Department of Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs, the report found.

Approximately ten per cent of post sent in the UK is addressed to, or received from, public sector organisations.track End of story


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