Letter to OFCOM – Royal Mail
Dear Dame Melanie,
Re: Royal Mail Delays – Role of Ofcom
We are writing to you to share our frustration about our ongoing correspondence and meetings with Royal Mail regarding postal delays in our areas.
As you will be well aware, Royal Mail has been repeatedly failing to meet its obligations under both the old and renegotiated Universal Service Obligation (USO). Even under the new terms, which soften the headline targets for Royal Mail, the company is expected to deliver 90% of First Class mail by next day, down from 93%, and 95% of Second Class mail within three working days, down from 98.5%. In the last financial year, less than 76% of First Class mail and just over 90% of Second Class mail met those targets. We note your ongoing investigation into the company’s performance over this period.
We understand that the purpose of revising the Universal Service Obligation was to help enable Royal Mail to meet realistic targets and achieve a better standard of service overall. We welcome the ambition to improve next-day delivery of First Class mail to 85% by January 2027 and 90% by April 2027, and to improve the share of Second Class deliveries within three working days to 93% by January 2027 and 95% by April 2027.
However, we are seriously concerned that Royal Mail’s refusal to admit that it is not performing at an appropriate standard now will hinder its ability to improve.
Our inboxes are full of messages from constituents experiencing marked postal delays, often with serious consequences, from missed medical appointments to fines for delayed payment – all because the mail they needed was not received until days or weeks after it should have arrived.
Postal workers in our areas tell us about the problems at local delivery offices – they know what is going wrong, and what practical solutions would help hard-working staff get the job done.
Yet Royal Mail’s senior leadership tells us time and again that there are no problems in our areas. Their responses follow such a clear pattern that they seem to show complete disdain for the concerns of residents. This is completely unacceptable. Telling us that night is day will not fix the problem. Acknowledging what is wrong, and engaging seriously on the detailed, local solutions that must sit alongside Universal Service Obligation reform, is the first step towards a solution.
We are concerned that the steps Ofcom has taken with regard to Royal Mail have not been sufficient – the fact that the company has been fined millions of pounds in each of the past three financial years for failing to meet its targets, and that it is under investigation for failing to meet its obligations yet again in a fourth consecutive year, shows that fines alone are not enough.
While we hope that Universal Service Obligation reforms will help, Royal Mail’s attitude to our repeatedly raised concerns suggests that you, as the regulator, must take a stronger hand in ensuring that they take these issues seriously.
We would welcome your view on what more you can do to ensure Royal Mail engages with the serious ongoing problems our residents face – and would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this further.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Robertson MP
Lichfield
Chris Bloore MP
Redditch
Dan Aldridge MP
Weston-super-Mare
Sadik Al-Hassan MP
North Somerset
Tahir Ali MP
Birmingham Hall Green & Moseley
Callum Anderson MP
Buckingham & Bletchley
Jess Asato MP
Lowestoft
Lewis Atkinson MP
Sunderland Central
Alex Ballinger MP
Halesowen
Antonia Bance MP
Tipton & Wednesbury
Paula Barker MP
Liverpool Wavertree
Lee Barron MP
Corby & East Northamptonshire
Johanna Baxter MP
Paisley & Renfrewshire South
Apsana Begum MP
Poplar & Limehouse
Matt Bishop MP
Forest of Dean
Sureena Brackenridge MP
Wolverhampton North East
Jonathan Brash MP
Hartlepool
Julia Buckley MP
Shrewsbury
Maureen Burke MP
Glasgow North East
Ruth Cadbury MP
Brentford & Isleworth
Irene Campbell MP
North Ayrshire & Arran
Bambos Charalambous MP
Southgate & Wood Green
Jacob Collier MP
Burton & Uttoxeter
Lizzi Collinge MP
Morecambe & Lunesdale
Tom Collins MP
Worcester
Torcuil Crichton MP
Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Chris Curtis MP
Milton Keynes North
Ashley Dalton MP
West Lancashire
Emily Darlington MP
Milton Keynes Central
Paul Davies MP
Colne Valley
Anna Dixon MP
Shipley
Anneliese Dodds MP
Oxford East
Neil Duncan-Jordan MP
Poole
Cat Eccles MP
Stourbridge
Sarah Edwards MP
Tamworth
Maya Ellis MP
Ribble Valley
Bill Esterson MP
Sefton Central
Patricia Ferguson MP
Glasgow West
Catherine Fookes MP
Monmouthshire
Daniel Francis MP
Bexleyheath & Crayford
Allison Gardiner MP
Stoke-on-Trent South
Anna Gelderd MP
South East Cornwall
Gill German MP
Clwyd North
Preet Gill MP
Birmingham Edgbaston
Ben Goldsborough MP
South Norfolk
Jodie Gosling MP
Nuneaton
Helen Hayes MP
Dulwich & West Norwood
Tom Hayes MP
Bournemouth East
Mark Hendrick MP
Preston
Chris Hinchliff MP
North East Hertfordshire
Patrick Hurley MP
Southport
Leigh Ingham MP
Stafford
Terry Jermy MP
South West Norfolk
Kim Johnson MP
Liverpool Riverside
Darren Jones MP
Bristol North West
Warinder Juss MP
Wolverhampton West
Jayne Kirkham MP
Truro & Falmouth
Sonya Kumar MP
Dudley
Peter Lamb MP
Crawley
Ian Lavery MP
Blyth & Ashington
Noah Law MP
St Austell & Newquay
Emma Lewell MP
South Shields
Rachael Maskell MP
York Central
Julie Minns MP
Carlisle
Navendu Mishra MP
Stockport
Grahame Morris MP
Easington
Joe Morris MP
Hexham
Perran Moon MP
Camborne & Redruth
James Naish MP
Rushcliffe
Connor Naismith MP
Crewe & Nantwich
Josh Newbury MP
Cannock Chase
Charlotte Nichols MP
Warrington North
Samantha Niblett MP
South Derbyshire
Melanie Onn MP
Great Grimsby & Cleethorpes
Simon Opher MP
Stroud
Kate Osborne MP
Jarrow & Gateshead East
Darren Paffey MP
Southampton Itchen
Toby Perkins MP
Chesterfield
Jess Phillips MP
Birmingham Yardley
Richard Quigley MP
Isle of Wight West
Steve Race MP
Exeter
Andrew Ranger MP
Wrexham
Mike Reader MP
Northampton South
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
Clapham & Brixton Hill
Sarah Russell MP
Congleton
Michelle Scrogham MP
Barrow & Furness
Mark Sewards MP
Leeds South West & Morley
John Slinger MP
Rugby
David Smith MP
North Northumberland
Nick Smith MP
Blaenau Gwent & Rhymney
Gareth Snell MP
Stoke-on-Trent Central
Ali Strathern MP
Hitchin
Peter Swallow MP
Bracknell
Alison Taylor MP
Paisley & Renfrewshire North
Rachel Taylor MP
North Warwickshire & Bedworth
Fred Thomas MP
Plymouth Moor View
Jessica Toale MP
Bournemouth West
Henry Tufnell MP
Mid & South Pembrokeshire
Derek Twigg MP
Widnes & Halewood
Valerie Vaz MP
Walsall & Bloxwich
Chris Webb MP
Blackpool South
Michelle Welsh MP
Sherwood Forest
Nadia Whittome MP
Nottingham East
Mohammad Yasin MP
Bedford