20 ways to make Britain better – 8. How Royal Mail can help nurture the little platoons

If you want a vision of what a liberalised postal service looks like, Holland is worth a visit.

But if you live in certain parts of London or Manchester you can already get a glimpse of what the future might look like in the UK. TNT is on the march, delivering residential mail in competition with Royal Mail. And they wont’t be paying those who deliver mail the kinds of wages that sustain families, or offering long term security. Zero hours contracts are quite typical and some jobs for their West London operation are currently advertised at £6.59 an hour.

In Holland TNT competes with other companies in a liberalised market. Many of its employees, and those of its competitors like Sandd, don’t earn much more than the minimum wage. Across the companies that deliver mail in the Netherlands temporary work is quite normal, staff for some companies are paid piece rates, and storing post in crates in your home or a garage can be part of the deal.

Of course, the Universal Service Obligation means that Royal Mail delivers post to the Isle of Mull or Chiswick for the same price, but TNT knows that profits come much easier in dense urban areas than sparley populated rural ones.  And as the volume of mail dwindles for Royal Mail in the areas TNT has cherry picked its economic fundamentals will be tested. There are already those on the right who are trying to chip away at the Universal Service Obligation. For some a fully liberalised market represents a desireable goal and the emerging ‘quick sand’ labour market is of no consequence.

But, whatever happens in the debate about the postal market, there are some challenges that Royal Mail cannot duck. As the digital economy grows letter volumes are falling and much of the business mail market has already been captured by its competitors.

Labour should embrace a new vision for Royal Mail. The company may have been privatised but through the Universal Service Obligation it still provides a public service. We can build on this.

Post men and women are an important part of the fabric of many communities, particularly in more isolated areas: a friendly face who knows the patch. What if a new cadre of post men and women were trained and supported to be part of the front line of public services and help nurture communities? What might this mean?

Mrs Higgins who lives at number 42, and is infirm, needs a prescription, she waits for a district nurse to drop it round. Mr Bloom, who lives at number 3, is a diabetic. He keeps turning up in Accident and Emergencies because he does not take his insulin when he should. Mrs Heathcote lives alone but on the same street. She wants to go swimming once a week but no one she knows can take her.

In an enhanced role for the local postal worker Mrs Higgins could get her prescription at much lower cost to the state. Mr Bloom would have reminders put through his door and potentially the door bell rung for a quick friendly chat. He would be nudged into taking his insulin, reducing the likelihood he would visit Accident and Emergencies unnecessarily. And for Mrs Heachcote a note would be put through the door of everyone on the street requesting a volunteer to take her to her swimming class.

In fact, the possibilites this approach offers are immense. Instead of turning our postal service into just another part of the quick sand economy, the post men and women of the future would have enhanced job security, better wages and be a more vital part of the fabric of communities up and down the land.

They could play a significant role as the fronline of joined up public services, connecting the lonely, nourishing neighbourhoods, binding the little platoons closer together, and saving taxpayers money too.