CICRA sets delivery targets for Jersey and Guernsey Post

Draft delivery targets for mail have been set for Jersey and Guernsey Post by the Channel Islands Competition Regulatory Authority (CICRA).

The watchdog wants 95% of all local post delivered within one working day.

CICRA also wants 82% of mail between the islands and to and from the UK to be delivered the next working day, and 97% within three working days.

But Andrew Riseley, CICRA chief executive, said the Channel Islands' postal operators relied on Royal Mail.

He said CICRA was insisting the islands' postal operators should measure how effective their internal operations are.

'Mitigate impact'

He said: "We also want them to monitor how well customers are served when they buy expensive products such as 'Special Delivery' that depend on Royal Mail tracking services.

"We are aware that, in the Channel Islands, service quality can depend on matters outside postal operators' control, such as weather and technical problems with transport to and from the islands.

"However, we believe that measurements of service quality should be taken on all days, come what may, as postal operators should take steps to mitigate the impact of adverse conditions for customers."

Kevin Keen, from Jersey Post, said: "The objective of all the staff at Jersey Post is to give a great service to our customers come rain or shine, and we welcome any benchmarking to confirm that this is actually happening.

"Inevitably though, a balance must be struck between the level of service and the price consumers are prepared to pay, we believe this is currently about right which enables us to keep first class stamp prices below that of the UK and many other places."

Boley Smillie, Guernsey Post Chief Executive, said: "Guernsey Post has used an independent research agency to measure end to end quality of service between the Bailiwick, Jersey and the UK for over a decade, so the key element of the decision from CICRA really just confirms what we already have in place."