Royal Mail continues to fail customers with poor postal performance - Jayne Dowle
I was over in Manchester last weekend and spotted a trio of rare beasts, three Royal Mail vans carrying postal workers delivering letters. I was so shocked, I actually stopped in my tracks and watched them for a while. It’s been at least a week since my street received any letters, and when we did, a massive pile came through the letterbox. I don’t know what’s worse, no post or all the post at once.
In my darker moments I wonder if somewhere in the system are letters informing me I’ve unwittingly committed a traffic offence or messed something up with HMRC. At least I’m not waiting to hear about a hospital appointment. Many people who have shared their postal woes with the BBC as part of an investigation have missed urgent referrals because their letter hasn’t arrived.
As of Monday February 16, 38 delivery offices, including Pontefract, Hull Central and Beverley, reported delays “due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors” affecting 105 postcodes. No mention of my own postcode, or yours perhaps, but still no post either.
Nether Edge and Sharrow isn’t on the list either. But residents told the BBC that letters had been delayed since Christmas. However, they had continued to receive parcels and items sent by recorded delivery.
We’ve all known for some time that the Royal Mail has taken to prioritising parcel delivery and sending out letters in batches, rather than fulfilling regular daily deliveries, although there have been denials from the company that this is the case.
Royal Mail responded to Sheffield concerns by saying the “temporary build up” was due to extreme weather and high sickness rates in a local sorting office.
Ibby Ullah, councillor for Nether Edge and Sharrow, condemned the company's communication as “utterly poor”.
Cllr Ullah said he was originally notified of the issue by a handful of residents but soon found out it was a more widespread issue across the ward and in other parts of Sheffield.
It’s the same story across the country. Yet, as Cllr Ullah also points out, in the UK we still are reliant on the postal system to receive formal letters. Whilst many of us turn to alternative forms of communication, such as emails or even WhatsApp to conduct day-to-day business, all manner of legal and taxation bodies, including local councils, plus banks, building societies, hospitals, still largely use Royal Mail.
“Adverse weather, including storms Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra in January, alongside higher-than-usual sick absence, has caused some short-term disruption to certain routes”, a Royal Mail spokesperson also told BBC reporters.
Many of us, who’ve barely seen a postie for months, will question exactly what ‘short-term’ means.
And now, thanks to the BBC’s investigation putting the situation front and centre, MPs on the Business and Trade Committee of MPs have issued Royal Mail, owned by EP Group, a Czech-based investment company controlled by billionaire Daniel Křetínský, with an ultimatum.
They have given the company two weeks, until March 2, to get its act together and asked for commitments to improve what it describes as “chaos”.
In the letter, the committee raised “significant concerns” about reports of “failures in service” that go beyond normal seasonal pressures.
It has demanded “categorical assurance” that parcels are not being prioritised over letters. It will be very interesting to see how Royal Mail responds.
The regulator, Ofcom, has so far fined Royal Mail £37m for poor performance delivering letters.
Following the stern MPs’ letters, Ofcom said it expected to see meaningful change from Royal Mail soon and if that does not happen, “fines are likely to continue”. Another few millions to pay out won’t help the Royal Mail run any smoother however and could potentially make matters even worse.
Speaking in confidence to the BBC, postal workers shared their concerns that sorting offices are woefully under-staffed, allowing for no tolerance should colleagues be off sick or take holiday.
All but one reported delays in their office; several confirmed that parcels were indeed still taking priority over all letters.
Others said that there weren’t enough delivery vans to go round – perhaps they’re all in Manchester? Vans were having to be shared, which meant that parcel deliveries were definitely put first. “That's where the money is for the company, so we're told to prioritise those over the mail”, one worker admitted.
What the nation expects is a national postal service we can rely on, that’s properly staffed and resourced and not cut to the bone to make profits for a privatised concern. Royal Mail should be made to deliver that, at the very least.