Ofcom declares Royal Mail ISN'T prioritising parcels: So why are letters taking so much longer to be delivered?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bil ... vered.html

Royal Mail has come under fire this year for its woeful performance, and This Is Money has heard from households up and down the country about delays to deliveries.

Some have suggested that part of the issue is that local postal workers have prioritised getting parcels delivered on time over letters.

But while Royal Mail was fined by Ofcom for failing to meet its delivery targets this week, the regulator has reiterated that no order to prioritise parcels had come from Royal Mail's top team.

Although the official line is that Royal Mail's policy is to treat all mail equally, readers are still getting in touch with us to say their letters have been delayed.

We have also heard from postal workers who say that, in their local areas, parcels and tracked items are prioritised over standard letters.


Earlier this year, Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson was grilled by senior MPs and denied a policy of delivering more parcels than letters, something that could breach Ofcom's rules.

He said that other than during the postal strikes, it was 'absolutely not true' that postal workers were being asked to prioritise parcels.


However, a number of readers have contacted This Is Money to express their dismay at delays to their Royal Mail deliveries in recent weeks.

Some have claimed that first-class post is taking longer than second-class post, while others are having to pay huge fines as a result of Royal Mail delays.

One theme running through the claims is that some feel that Royal Mail is prioritising packages over letters.

Reader Paul said he had not seen his normal postman for nearly a week and bumped into another postal worker delivering a large bundle of letters. They told Paul he was making sure there was a delivery so the regular postman wouldn't be too busy when he was back from holiday.


Royal Mail has been handed a £5.6m fine by Ofcom for missing its delivery targets.

But Ofcom's intervention will come as no surprise to the households up and down the country that have been affected by delayed post.

It needs to get it right at local delivery offices, not just head office.

On pressing the postman further, he was told they might not deliver letters for up to five days, but parcels were always prioritised and delivered.

Jenny in Plymouth was left waiting for two weeks for mail, which she says arrives infrequently and in large batches at once. She asked one of the five Royal Mail vans on her road what was happening and was told they were prioritising parcels.

Christine and David in Oxford say they too have missed appointments, birthday cards and other post while packets and parcels come much more frequently.

Royal Mail has always strenuously denied it has a policy of prioritising parcels. A spokesperson told This Is Money: 'We treat every item of mail with equal importance and do not operate a policy of prioritising parcels.'

Crucially, Ofcom's investigation into Royal Mail found that it had not identified 'any suggestion that Royal Mail's senior management had directed the prioritisation of parcels over letters outside of recognised contingency plans.'

While it might deny putting letter deliveries on the backburner, staffing shortages and the increased number of packages mean postal workers are having to make a decision between the two.

And Ofcom has not let Royal Mail entirely off the hook, raising concerns that the firm appears to have 'insufficient control' over delivery offices with high absence and vacancies, which are forced to make 'on the day' decisions about what to deliver.

Royal Mail has said that in smaller delivery offices, and at particularly busy times, it 'may clear parcels first to free up and keep all mail - including letters - moving efficiently through the network.'

Letter volumes are diminishing - they were down 9 per cent last year - but they still account for 47 per cent of Royal Mail's revenue.

Posties say some items ARE prioritised
This Is Money has also heard directly from Royal Mail employees who confirm that parcels have, in their areas, been prioritised over letters.


One postman said staff shortages have created a huge backlog of mail which means postal workers are unable to complete their round in the allotted time.

They said if there is a huge amount of mail, only tracked items and those marked for special delivery are delivered, while the rest is left in the office.

Another said Royal Mail 'no longer cares about letters, only parcels matter' and said that rounds are 'nearly impossible to finish so mail is returned most days… All parcels must be delivered. No parcels are left or missed on any duty.'

One worker confirmed that post and certain deliveries 'can wait up to four days before a letter goes through the door'.

[Philbag70]

Dear Ofcom
You either failed to investigate properly or you're in cahoots with the Royal Mail executives.
I can assure you, Royal Mail ARE prioritising Tracked

[R5001]

Yeah, they just took what they were told and ran with it. Why not hire some people to get jobs with us for a few weeks and actually investigate?

[enskied]

Is that honestly what OFCOM said.?

Because I for one have shown them otherwise often over the last four years

However the the only direct reply I got said.

"What do you expect me to do?"

Nothing.

[Hyrrokkin]

Dear Ofcom
You either failed to investigate properly or you're in cahoots with the Royal Mail executives.
I can assure you, Royal Mail ARE prioritising Tracked

Ofcom are lying - we all know the truth

[fb1969]

After intense investigations, OFCOM have also confirmed that the Pope is not Catholic and that bears do not s**t in the woods.

[Philbag70]

Dear Ofcom
You either failed to investigate properly or you're in cahoots with the Royal Mail executives.
I can assure you, Royal Mail ARE prioritising Tracked

Ofcom are lying - we all know the truth

Absolutely. 100%

[dazzler123]

didnt Simon Thompson say ofcom done the questionnaire about customers happy not to receive mail on saturdays etc? i dont recall being asked. All seems quite suspect, now ofcom lying for Royal Mail

[daveyeff]

at the end of the day, a £5.6million fine is a drop in the ocean for them. so rest assured they will be prepared to take the hit every time and just carry on as they are.

[TopperGas]

didnt Simon Thompson say ofcom done the questionnaire about customers happy not to receive mail on saturdays etc? i dont recall being asked. All seems quite suspect, now ofcom lying for Royal Mail

I think they possibly said they'd accept less daily deliveries and OFCOM turned that around into saying they didn't want Saturday deliveries, I can't understand why people wouldn't want a Saturday delivery when it's the only day most are at home. Sadly you can't now believe word either organisation says.

[dazzler123]

would anything change under labour? Seems the whole country is infected to the bone with tory corruption

[scoobydo79]

Yep. They swallowed the RM sob story. It will be the we need to deliver letters Mon- Sat next…..

[enskied]

Lord Grade also was chair of Kids Company.

That went well.
Again he sucked up everything she told him.
He just gets paid to be a name now.

[rogersh]

House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee
Royal Mail Seventh Report of Session 2022–23

Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 14 March 2023

EDITED;

Universal Service Obligation
29. We pressed Mr Thompson during the evidence session on 22 February on whether the company’s policy on prioritisation of parcels represented a systemic failure in seeking to meet the requirement for a six-day letter delivery under the USO. Mr Thompson admitted that “our USO performance has definitely not been good enough” and that Royal Mail was “definitely not achieving USO”. 36 Mr Williams, the Chairman of Royal Mail’s parent company, acknowledged that the long term pay and incentive structure for senior managers at Royal Mail failed to include a target of delivering the USO.37

30. We believe that Royal Mail has systemically failed to deliver against parts of its Universal Service Obligation. We recognise the challenges of both the pandemic and ongoing industrial action, but the evidence we have suggests this systemic failing has been taking place before, between and during these events.

31. We therefore call on Ofcom to undertake an enforcement investigation into Royal Mail’s delivery of the USO and to report to this Committee by the end of 2023. In doing so, we encourage Ofcom to meet with postal workers from across the country to take evidence on verbal briefings to deprioritise letter deliveries and to do so on a timeframe which spans pre-pandemic to the current day.

The future for Royal Mail
12. We recognise the importance of the Universal Service Obligation in delivering a vital public service, and we hope that Royal Mail seizes the commercial opportunities available to it in accessing every household across the country on six days of the week. We call on the Government to formally engage with Royal Mail, following the outcome of Ofcom’s enforcement investigation, to secure the future of the Universal Service Obligation and Royal Mail, and to provide an initial report to this Committee no later than the end of 2024. (Paragraph 47)

[clashcityrocker]

What exactly are the commercial opportunities available by accessing every household across the country 6 days/week?
A lot of houses only get mail once a week because nobody writes to them any more.