Central Government Communication strategy Whitepaper

Neopost : Postal and Communications Strategies
©2015 Neopost 3
Introduction
©2014 Neopost
in association with
April 2015
Postal and Communications Strategies
within Central Government

©2015 Neopost 2
Contents
Introduction. 03
Executive Summary. 04
Mail Volumes: Outbound Communications 05
Mail Volumes: Inbound Communications. 06
The Post Room in Central Government. 07
Communications & the Environment. 08
Mail & Digital Communications. 09
Procurement. 10
Mailroom Technology. 11
Why Neopost? 12
How Neopost can help improve productivity
throughout your business.
...mail processing
must keep up with
digital workflows...

©2015 Neopost
Introduction
3
Mail is a
significant area
of Government
expenditure...
Postal and communication
strategies within Central
Government is the latest in a
series of white papers that seeks
to throw light on communication
strategies within public sector
organisations as they look for
ways to save money and make
existing operations more efficient.
On top of £81 billion of public
sector cuts announced in the
2010 Spending Review and
further savings of £11.5 billion
for 2015-2016, central and
local Government are being
encouraged to shrink their carbon
footprint as part of a wider,
legally binding commitment to
cut greenhouse gas emissions by
80% (from 1990 levels) by 2050,
with an interim target of a 34%
reduction by 2020.
The scale of the financial and
carbon savings involved has
forced managers to re-assess
all aspects of their operations,
including postal communications,
an area already undergoing
significant change due to the
rise of electronic messaging, the
decline in postal volumes and
the emergence of new service
providers following liberalisation
of the postal market in 2004.
Mail is a significant area of
government expenditure: the
Crown Commercial Service
has calculated that Central
Government spends £257 million
each year on postage and
postal services and that smarter
procurement could cut these
costs by between 9% and 30%.
Despite its many qualities and its
effectiveness as a communication
medium, physical mail is also
a source of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Using mailing equipment and
software to make mailing
processes more efficient and less
wasteful can clearly help public
sector organisations with their
cost- and carbon-cutting agenda.
But to what extent is investment
in the post room being integrated
with these wider aims?
Postal & Communications
Strategies Surveys 2012
To help find out, Neopost
commissioned the Government
Policy Hub (GPH) to carry out
a series of surveys into postal
communications within Central
Government, local authorities and
higher education.
The Postal and communication
strategies within Central
Government white paper is
based on a survey of 5,000
officials in more than 169 Central
Government organisations carried
out by GPH in November 2012.
GPH received a total of 391
unique responses from 34% of
the organisations targeted.
Other Neopost white papers
in the series include Postal and
communications strategies
within local authorities, Postal
and communications strategies
within higher education, Postal
within the NHS, Postal and
communications strategies within
Housing Associations and Postal
within Charities.

©2015 Neopost 4
Postal & Communications Strategies
Survey 2012: Central Government
Executive Summary
Postal and digital
communications are essential to
Government operations and a
significant source of expenditure
and carbon emissions. Yet half
(51%) of respondents to Postal
and Communications Strategies
Survey 2012: Central Government
can’t say how many items of
communications they send
and a similar number (55%) are
unable to quantify the volume of
inbound post.
Four out of 10 (40%) don’t know
the proportion of physical versus
digital communications; and
44% don't know whether their
organisation plans to increase
or decrease outgoing mail over
the next 12 months. Half don’t
know whether their department is
exploring the digitisation of mail
or has either completed – or is
investigating – the centralisation
of physical and digital
communications.
Digital growing, mail shrinking
Despite a lack of management
awareness highlighted by the
survey, mail remains an important
means of communication for
Central Government departments,
even if it is declining as a
proportion of total output.
Of the 114 respondents who
were able to give a breakdown
of digital versus physical
communications, 57% said that
physical mail makes up 25% or
less of all communications. Even
so, a sizeable minority still relies
heavily on hard copy documents:
a quarter of respondents who
gave a breakdown said physical
mail makes up more than half of
their communications; 13% said it
accounted for 75% or more.
A majority of respondents and
almost all (94%) of those who
were able to give a definitive
answer said they expected to see
reductions in the amount of mail
both sent and received in the
next 12 months.
e-substitution
Falling mail volumes are not
just a product of e-Government
initiatives: carbon reduction
programmes and e-substitution
are having an impact, too.
More than a quarter of Central
Government departments have
aligned, or are in the process of
aligning, their communications
strategies with carbon reduction
targets; and almost one in five
(18%) has centralised, or is in
the process of centralising,
physical and digital mail so that
messages can be sent by post
or electronic means as part of
an integrated workflow. Mail
digitisation, which facilitates
paperless communications by
creating digital images of hard
copy documents, has been/is
being implemented by 16% of
respondents.
Progress is being made in some
areas, but relatively low adoption
levels of mail digitisation, modest
investment plans for the next
18 months and low levels of
interaction with suppliers suggest
that Government organisations
could be doing more to
reduce costs and improve the
efficiency of physical and digital
communications.
A sizeable
minority of
departments
still relies heavily
on hard copy
documents

©2015 Neopost 5
Mail Volumes
Despite the importance of
management and control to a
cost/carbon-cutting agenda,
fewer than half of executives
in Central Government
organisations know how many
outbound communications
(hard copy and digital) are
sent by their organisation/
department. This is perhaps not
surprising considering that the
question relates to paper and
digital communications, but it
is indicative of a general lack of
knowledge amongst decision-
makers. Digital methods already
account for the vast majority of
communications: 65 out of 115
respondents who expressed an
opinion estimate that physical
mail now makes up 25% or less
of their communications volume.
In the future, mail is expected
to decline further, with 51% of
organisations planning to reduce
volumes of outgoing mail in the
next 12 months, compared to just
5% who expect mail volumes to
increase.
Increase 9 (5%)
Decrease: 96 (51%)
Don’t know: 84 (44%)
Q. What is the proportion of
physical as opposed to
digital items?
Q. Does your organisation/
department plan to
increase or decrease
outgoing mail over the
next 12 months?
Q. How many items of outgoing
communications does your
organisation/department send
annually?
Outbound Communications
Less than 10,000: 39 (21%)
10,000 - 50,000: 16 (8%)
50,000 - 100,000: 6 (3%)
100,000 - 200,000: 2 (1%)
200,000 - 500,000: 9 (5%)
500,000 - 1 million: 2 (1%)
1 million +: 19 (10%)
Less than 25% physical: 55 (29%)
25% physical: 10 (5%)
26 - 50% physical: 23 (12%)
51 - 75% physical: 11 (6%)
Over 75% physical: 15 (8%)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

©2015 Neopost 6
Managers’ knowledge of inbound
communications is no better
than it is of outbound traffic, with
55% of respondents unable to
quantify how much physical mail
their organisation receives. As
with outgoing mail, more than ten
times as many expect incoming
mail volumes to fall as rise over
the next 12 months (38% vs. 3%).
Even so, physical mail remains
essential for service delivery: 10%
of survey respondents receive
more than 500,000 items of mail
each year.
Q. How many items of inbound
mail does your organisation/
department receive annually?
Q. Does your organisation/
department plan to
increase or decrease
incoming mail over the
next 12 months?
Inbound Communications
Mail Volumes
Increase 5 (3%)
Decrease: 72 (38%)
Don’t know: 112 (59%)
Less than 5,000: 26 (14%)
5,000 - 25,000: 23 (12%)
25,000 - 50,000: 9 (5%)
50,000 - 100,000: 2 (1%)
100,000 - 250,000: 4 (2%)
250,000 - 500,000: 3 (2%)
500,000 +: 18 (10%)
Don’t know: 104 (55%)

©2015 Neopost 7
The Post Room in Central Government
Not all Government organisations
are huge bodies staffed by
thousands and spread over
several sites. As the list of
participating organisations on
page 11 shows, there are plenty
of smaller operations of more
limited scope. This is reflected in
the diverse nature of Government
post rooms.
At one end are large operations
that handle millions of inbound
and outbound communications,
employ more than 10 people
(7%) and serve more than 15
sites (11%). The majority, however,
are considerably smaller, with
five or fewer staff (50%) serving
between one and five sites (56%).
Ten per cent of post rooms are
shared between departments.
While more than half (51%) of
mail rooms are operated and
managed in-house, 16% of Central
Government post rooms are
outsourced. This is a significantly
higher proportion than in local
authorities or higher education.
Q. How many staff does
your post room employ?
Q. How many sites
does your post
room service?
Q. What best describes the
status of your post room?
Run internally: 97 (51%)
Run as shared service: 18 (10%)
Outsourced/run externally: 31 (16%)
A combination: 10 (5%)
1-5: 105 (56%)
6-10: 8 (4%)
11-15: 7 (4%)
More than 15: 21 (11%)
1-5: 94 (50%)
6-10: 9 (5%)
More than 10: 13 (7%)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

©2015 Neopost 8
Communications the Environment
Reducing waste and carbon
emissions are priorities for Central
Government bodies. Although
seven out of 10 respondents say
they are exploring ways to reduce
controllable waste, relatively
few have managed to align their
communications strategy with
carbon reduction targets: just
over a quarter have either fully
aligned or are in the advanced
planning stage, compared to one
third who are still at the insight/
planning stage or have yet to do
anything. Alignment in Central
Government is more advanced
than in other sectors of the public
sector surveyed by GPH.
Q. Is your organisation/
department exploring ways
to reduce controllable waste
further?
Q. To what extent has your
communications strategy
been aligned to targets
concerning waste and
carbon reduction?
0 10 20 30 40 50
Not yet: 13 (7%)
Gaining insight: 17 (9%)
More planning needed: 31 (16%)
In advanced planning: 18 (10%)
Fully aligned: 30 (16%)
Yes: 135 (72%)
No: 5 (3%)

©2015 Neopost 9
Q. Has your organisation/
department completed
– or is it investigating
– the centralisation of
physical and digital
mail?
Q. Has your organisation/
department completed
– or is it investigating –
the digitisation of mail?
Mail Digital Communications
The integration of physical
and digital communications,
including the scanning and
routing of incoming mail, has the
potential to reduce costs, improve
productivity and reduce paper
usage and associated carbon
emissions. Not surprisingly, it
is an area of great interest to
Government organisations. More
than a quarter of respondents
have either already completed
(14%) or are in the process of
completing (12%) the digitisation/
scanning of mail. Similar
proportions – 10% and 8%
respectively – are at the same
stages in the centralisation of
physical and digital mail. About
one in six respondents has no
interest in centralisation (18%) or
digitisation (16%).
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0 10 20 30 40 50
Yes, completed: 19 (10%)
In process: 16 (8%)
No: 21 (11%)
No, will not centralise: 13 (7%)
Yes, completed: 7 (4%)
In process: 20 (12%)
No, probably not: 27 (16%)

©2015 Neopost 10
Procurement
Framework agreements are the
preferred procurement route for
48% of respondents, with just 5%
favouring an alternative. Of these,
the Crown Commercial Service
has much the highest profile,
with awareness standing at 56%,
followed by 16% for GPS (Hybrid
Mail). Royal Mail is the most
popular source of information on
developments in communications.
Even so, just one in five
organisations has approached
it for advice. This raises the
question of whether organisations
could identify additional
efficiency gains or cost-saving
opportunities by working more
closely with suppliers.
Q. To which providers
has your organisation
talked to with regard
to innovations in
communication?
Q. Please select all
the framework
agreements your
organisation/
department is
aware of.
Q. Where available, are
framework agreements
your preferred
procurement route?
FP Mailing: 2 (1%)
Neopost: 11 (5%)
Pitney Bowes: 19 (9%)
Royal Mail: 41 (20%)
UK Mail: 3 (1%)
TNT Post: 21 (10%)
Don’t know: 106 (52%)
Universities Purchasing Consortia (APUC):
10 (5%)
Pro5: 5 (3%)
YPO: 5 (3%)
(Hybrid Mail): 30 (16%)
107 (56%)
ESPO: 8 (4%)
None of the above: 27 (14%)
Yes: 83 (48%)
No: 9 (5%)

©2015 Neopost 11
Mailroom Technology
The potential of modern
mailing equipment to improve
productivity and cut costs is
not reflected in respondents’
investment plans for the
next 18 months. Whether as
a result of cost-cutting or
a projected decline in mail
volumes, traditional items of
mailing equipment are a low
priority for Central Government
organisations, with just 5%
planning to look at franking
machines, 3% at folder inserters
and 2% at letter openers.
Technologies with the highest
ratings are all linked to digital
communications, including secure
email (13%) and digitisation
(10%). Not all aspects of the
digital mailroom scored highly:
centralisation solutions were
mentioned by just 4% and hybrid
mail by 3%.
Q. Please select from the list
which solutions/areas your
organisation/department
will be looking at over the
next 18 months.
Downstream access: 5 (2%)
Secure email: 31 (13%)
Shredders: 10 (4%)
Mail scanners: 19 (8%)
Letter openers: 6 (2%)
Address data verification: 9 (4%)
Address printers: 5 (2%)
Digitisation: 25 (10%)
Franking machines: 12 (5%)
Inserting Enveloping systems: 7 (3%)
Hybrid mail: 8 (3%)
Centralised Solutions: 11 (4%)

©2015 Neopost 12
What Next?
Why Neopost?
To help Government organisations identify how they can improve
communications and mailing processes, Neopost offers free, no
obligation audits from which we are able to develop bespoke
communications solutions and strategies.
For more information, please contact Antony Paul on 01708 714576
or email antony.paul@neopost.co.uk.
Neopost is a leading global supplier of mailing and communications
solutions, with annual sales of 1.1 billion euros worldwide.
We provide a broad range of products and services to facilitate
incoming and outbound communications and help organisations
manage the transition to digital communications. These include
franking machines; data accuracy software; output management
software for print and digital distribution; folding and inserting;
envelope addressing; letter opening; electronic document
management; and tracking and tracing of letters and parcels.
Neopost solutions support every stage of sending and receiving
communications by mail, email, SMS and parcels. In addition, we offer
complementary services including consulting, maintenance, finance
and online services..
We are the only manufacturer from the postal solutions industry to have
served local authority purchasing consortia, central government and
the wider public sector on successive framework agreements for over 15
consecutive years.

Neopost is a global player with a local presence in business solutions
for the postal, parcel delivery and related digital world of tomorrow.
We have an intimate understanding of physical and electronic
communications and work in collaboration with over 800,000
enterprises around the world. Our business has evolved to meet the
growing demands of a technology-driven environment. This means we
can help our customers successfully make the transition from physical
mail to quality multichannel communications management.
About Neopost
Join us on neopost.co.uk
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Examinations Regulator
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Sport England
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Student Loans Company Ltd
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The British Library
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Regulation
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The Queen Elizabeth II Conference
Centre
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Tourism Ireland
UK Border Agency
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Ulster Supported Employment Ltd
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
Victoria and Albert Museum
Visit Britain
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Survey Participants
Neopost and the Government Policy Hub would like to thank the following
organisations for taking part in Postal Communications Strategies Survey
2012: Central Government.

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