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Correspondence with Royal Mail

From: Esther Bell
Sent: 25 February 2010 16:40
To: 'press.office@royalmail.com'
Subject: Direct Marketing                                                                                  

Dear Sir/Madam,

I recently contacted the Royal Mail switchboard and explained that Councillors in Maidstone were reviewing the issue of direct marketing following a number of complaints from residents, and they advised to contact their press office.  Unfortunately the phone number they supplied was incorrect.

A group of Councillors at Maidstone Borough Council are reviewing 'junk mail' following a number of complaints from residents regarding the sheer quantity of mailings they receive.  As part of its review a feature on BBC Radio Kent was broadcast and as part of this, several residents phoned with comments that they had filled in Royal Mail forms to opt out of unaddressed door to door mailings, but that there requests had been repeatedly ignored.  Further more, there was a phone call from one resident who used to work as a postman and advised that Royal Mail would collapse if it wasn't for the revenue generated from 'junk mail'.

I am obviously therefore keen to give Royal Mail the opportunity to respond either in person or in a written statement to this evidence before I publish it in the Council's final report.

I am therefore writing on behalf of the Chairman of Maidstone Borough Council's Regeneration and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee to invite you to the meeting of the Committee on Tuesday 23 March 2010 at 6.30pm in Maidstone's Town Hall, Maidstone, Kent.  I appreciate you may not be the most appropriate person to attend, so please let me know if this is the case.  I expect that the session with you would last between an hour and an hour and a half.  Please note we will reimburse any expenses.

Members are extremely keen to interview you or a representative from the Royal Mail with regard to the importance of direct marketing to your company and also to give you the chance to respond.  The Committee is keen to find a solution that both gives residents choice but also supports businesses, including yourself, so your input would be greatly received.

I look forward to hearing your response, however, if you have any questions please contact me on 01622 602463.

Kind Regards,

Esther

Sent: 09 March 2010 11:16

To: Esther Bell

Subject: Royal Mail Statement

Esther

Unfortunately we will not be able to attend the council scrutiny meeting, however please see statement below which covers the issues you have raised:

Statement

Reading your email and the experiences of local residents who have "opted out" of unaddressed mailings and then were concerned to continue to receive direct mail it may be helpful if I outline the parameters of the opt out and the distinction between addressed and unadressed mailings.  The Royal Mail opt out scheme applies to our door to door product - this is basically a service Royal Mail provides for the delivery of unaddressed items of mail - typically promotional material but it can also be things like newsletters from Local Authorities etc.  If customers sign up to opt out of these mailings it will only prevent deliveries of unaddressed items sent by Royal Mail's door to door service - there are many other competitors who offer such a service and these deliveries would therefore continue as they are beyond the control of Royal Mail.  Furthermore Royal Mail has a legal responsibility to deliver all items of addressed mail to the address indicated so there can be no general opt out of direct mail.

Not only is direct mail of commercial importance to Royal Mail but has considerable benefits for the broader UK economy as is evident in the some research outlined below:

A recent study by the Direct Marketing Association has revealed that:

·         Direct marketing generated sales of £125 billion in 2006, with consumer sales valued at £72 billion – just over nine per cent of total UK spending

·         Direct mail itself accounted for sales of £17 billion

·         The direct marketing industry as a whole was worth £43.7 billion to the UK economy in 2006 (through spend on activities, employment and associated costs)

·         In 2006, the direct marketing industry employed 886,000 people – 3.1 per cent of total UK employment. The direct mail industry employed 182,000 people

·         66 per cent of companies with a turnover of £1 million or more undertook direct mail activities

   Kind Regards

   Martine Munby

   Senior External Relations Manager

   Royal Mail Group

I am writing on behalf of the Regeneration and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Chairman, to thank you for your contribution to the committee's inquiry into junk mail.  The information you have provided will be circulated to members and will be extremely useful in the production of the Committee’s report.

One of your colleagues who works in the Marketing Services department of Royal Mail contacted me yesterday and was keen that Royal Mail takes the opportunity to contribute to the Committee's final public report.  I mentioned that we had a number of witnesses attending the Committee's meeting, including one from the Direct Marketing Association and a representative from local businesses as the Committee was keen to consider all aspects of direct marketing, including its financial importance to businesses, including as a source of revenue to Royal Mail.  I would therefore be keen if you could respond with any comments regarding this.

Your colleague also mentioned that it could take up to 6 months for a person to be fully removed from Royal Mail door to door mailings and that this may account for the comments made to us on BBC Radio Kent.  I would therefore be much obliged if you could advise how the request to opt out of unaddressed mailings is processed and why it takes six months?  Also, would Royal Mail be able to adhere to a 'no junk mail' sticker scheme endorsed by the council or does it need explicit instructions made directly to Royal Mail?

Once again, many thanks for your contribution that you have already made.

Kind Regards,

Esther Bell

Overview and Scrutiny Officer

Esther

I have spoken to our one of our Senior Managers and have been assured that our door to door opt put usually takes around 6 weeks to take effect.  In terms of the sticker scheme we could not follow this since it would be too subjective to determine what constitutes junk mail and at any rate both DEFRA and the DMA (which of course has an industry wide view) agree that the opt out scheme is the right way to handle these issues.

Kind regards

Martine