
Plymouth MP Fred Thomas is asking constituents to tell him about postal delays as problems persist across the city.
The Labour politician last month joined MPs from across the country in writing to business secretary Jonathan Reynolds to put pressure on Royal Mail over the standard of its service.
The Moor View MP said constituents had told him about post arriving late, including important letters dealing with payments and appointments.
His fellow Plymouth MP Luke Pollard is also onboard and said his constituents had reported late arrival of letters and parcels - and some deliveries not turning up at all.
Today, Mr Thomas told his constituents on social media that he was “sorry to see continued difficulties getting your mail”.
He wants residents to email him with exact details of their experience and said: “When I regularly raise issues with Royal Mail, their first question is ‘what exactly is the problem?’ So for me, knowing precise examples of mail that has not arrived, or how late it is, etc, is crucial.”
Mr Thomas wants people whose mail arrives late, or not at all, to email him at fred.thomas.mp@parliament.uk, including their name and full address.
He stressed: “I know our fantastic posties and staff at West Park and other Royal Mail sites are certainly not the issue, they are fantastic and hard working folks who want to get on and do their jobs.
“The issues are with the company and its private ownership and its internal policies.
Mr Thomas added; “I've heard from many constituents about post arriving late, with real consequences when important letters, payments and appointments are affected.
“Postal workers are also seeing the problems first-hand, and their experience needs to be listened to.
“Even with the delivery targets recently relaxed, Royal Mail is still failing to meet them. Last year, just 76% of first class and 90% of second class mail arrived within the required standard.”
He said repeated fines have not led to a better service, and Royal Mail is now under investigation for a fourth consecutive year.
He said: “The Business and Trade Committee has already found that Ofcom is failing as the statutory regulator, and it's clear that stronger powers are needed to hold Royal Mail to account.
“Plymouth deserves a postal service that can be relied upon. We need to see real improvements, and I'll continue to press for them.”
In August, Mr Thomas’ Labour colleague Mr Pollard began a survey, asking people to report to him instances of late arriving letters and parcels.
The Royal Mail has stressed it aims to deliver to all addresses it has mail for, six days a week, but in a “small number of local offices” this may temporarily not be possible due to issues such as high levels of sickness, resourcing, or other factors, when it will rotate deliveries to minimise delays.
But Mr Pollard said the service in Plymouth is not good enough and said: “Lots of people have told me about problems with Royal Mail in Plymouth – from late arrival of letters and parcels, to deliveries not turning up at all.
“It’s a problem I’ve experienced myself, with important letters to constituents sometimes taking weeks to arrive. It’s simply not good enough.”
He said he had raised concerns with Royal Mail “again and again”, but said he was still not satisfied with its response.
He has asked people to complete the survey and share it with family and friends. It can be found at : https://survey.labour.org.uk/royalmailpsd
The survey asks if people have experienced a problem with late or no post, and how late it was. It asks how often delays were experienced and if they were for letters, parcels or both, and if the delay had caused someone to miss a vital appointment.