Local Senedd Member Natasha Asghar MS briefly ditched politics to try her hand at being a postie during a recent visit to one of Royal Mail’s Newport hubs.
Natasha, who represents South Wales East in the Welsh Parliament, spent the morning touring the Newport East Delivery Office before pounding the pavements with a postman in Somerton to get a first-hand insight into the job.
Manager Jamie Collins talked Natasha through the various sorting processes and procedures which take place behind-the-scenes before post bags and vans are loaded up.
The pair also discussed the proposed reform of the Universal Postal Service, which will allow Royal Mail to continue to invest in the modernisation and transformation of the business to provide the products and services customers want.
Proposed changes, which are aimed at helping deliver a more efficient and financially sustainable service, include delivering all non-First-Class letter deliveries every other weekday and align the speed of standard bulk business mail to Second Class.
Ofcom’s proposals would mean no changes to the one-price-goes-anywhere service to all parts of the UK, First Class letters delivered six days a week, the option of First Class and Second-Class letters, giving people the choice of price and speed, and parcels delivered up to seven days a week as currently.
Natasha Asghar MS said:
“With a staggering 33,000 items being dealt with every day, the delivery office’s team carry out stellar work and it was fantastic to be able to see them in action first-hand.
“Come rain or shine, our posties are out and about making sure our mail is seamlessly delivered through our letterboxes.
“Having joined one of Royal Mail’s posties on his morning round, I can safely say it’s not an easy gig and they all deserve a huge thank you for the work they do.”
