Northwich MP calls on Royal Mail to recruit staff

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https://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/new ... uit-staff/

AN MP has called on Royal Mail to launch a major recruitment drive after being inundated with complaints about delayed letters and parcels.

Mike Amesbury said there are problems across his Weaver Vale constituency but worst hit are Northwich, including outlying areas Kingsmead, Hartford and Weaverham, plus Frodsham and Helsby.

Residents report delays in receiving prescriptions, medical letters, magazine subscriptions, mobile phone SIM cards, important documents, driving licences and birthday cards.

Mr Amesbury said: "I have raised the matter with local management and the CWU union and have now taken it up with the Royal Mail and the regulator at a national level.

"I’ve got evidence of constituents becoming distressed because they are waiting for letters about urgent medical appointments that have got stuck in the backlog.

"It’s not good enough. This isn’t even a second class service at the moment.

"Royal Mail needs to make recruitment its priority. I think they’re just so under-resourced at the moment."

Mr Amesbury believes a ‘plethora of factors’ are impacting local delivery services from Royal Mail, which was controversially privatised in 2013.

He explained: “The lead-up to Christmas is always busy. And in some cases rounds have been changed to manage the general increase in parcels compared with letters. It seems an interesting time to make such a change in terms of the business cycle.

“There are issues around new housing where rounds have not been allocated. So they’re struggling to service allocated rounds and then you get new build, with postal workers asked to cover that on top.

“You’ve also got staff either off because they’ve got Covid or having to self-isolate. And there are staff recruitment and retention problems.

“I know posties who love the job but some may have discovered other things during the pandemic and found other work.”