8 Government departments use Royal Mail competitors - Carmichael

11.06.28am GMT Mon 28th Dec 2009

A total of eight UK Government departments use Royal Mail's competitors for postal services, with three of these not using Royal Mail at all, according to Liberal Democrat research.

Information received from 18 Government departments in response to Parliamentary Questions shows that:

Five departments - Children, Schools and Families; Health; Justice; Transport; and Work and Pensions - use Royal Mail but also private sector competitors for services such as parcels and urgent deliveries

Three departments - Communities; the Foreign Office; and Culture, Media and Sport - do not use Royal Mail at all

This follows the recent revelation that the SNP Government in Scotland gave a multi-million pound mail contract to TNT.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, Alistair Carmichael said:

"This undermines the Government's claim to care about the future of the Royal Mail.

"Ministers should be doing all they can do to support this vital service, instead of handing contracts to their competitors."