Letter delivery delays in Derry 'seems to be worse than ever'

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https://www.derryjournal.com/news/peopl ... er-9011313

Royal Mail has said it has a “a plan in place to improve deliveries” in Derry after Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said delays in letters arriving are having a huge impact across the city, with the situation seemingly “now worse than ever”.

Mr Durkan has raised serious concerns about ‘continued sporadic mail delivery’ which he said has seen constituents in the Foyle area significantly impacted.

Royal Mail had previously attributed problems to staff absences.

Mr Durkan recently met with Consumer Council who confirmed they raised the specific issue of postal delays in Derry at their Customer Engagement Forum and with Ofcom, and that research is under way into the impact of proposed postal reforms on consumers.

The Foyle MLA commented: “For years, I have been raising the ongoing postal delays across Derry. Yet despite repeated meetings and assurances, constituents are still waiting weeks and sometimes more than a month, for important letters.

“The situation had improved very slightly for a while but it seems to be now worse than ever. This isn’t about birthday cards arriving late. We have had constituents miss hospital appointments, welfare deadlines and losing out on long awaited social housing offers.

“This week alone, people have reached out to me about a missed hospital appointment for a gentleman currently awaiting cancer treatment and another individual who missed a letter in relation to an ongoing court case which has had serious consequences.

“Royal Mail has previously stated that it isn’t prioritising parcels over letters. But it's very clear that they are. I've written to Royal Mail Management yet again urging them to get a handle on the situation across Derry. They can't keep blaming staff absences; staff are overworked, under-resourced and are trying to work in a local delivery premises that isn't fit for purpose."

Mr Durkan said he believed that both customers and staff would be far better served if alternative premises were secured on both the cityside and the Waterside areas of the city.

"This would provide a safer working environment and would not only improve service delivery for customers but would also help reduce staff absenteeism and improve morale.

“There is a systemic and prolonged issue with postal services across Derry and people are paying the price for Royal Mail failures. It’s unacceptable and I will continue to fight for the service Derry deserves.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson responded: “We take concerns about deliveries seriously because we know how important it is for people to receive hospital appointments, bills, court correspondence, financial documents and other important letters on time.

“We have a plan in place to improve deliveries in the area. Agency workers are supporting our posties, building work has started at the Delivery Office to create more space for them to work, and we are investing in nine additional delivery duties to support more reliable deliveries.

“Our current performance data show that more than 92% of all letters are delivered on time and over 99% within a week, meaning longer delays are rare. However, we know there is more to do and remain focused on improving reliability for all customers.”

The spokesperson said Royal Mail did not have a breakdown of the average delivery time for postal letters for BT47 and BT48.