New jobs are being created by Royal Mail in Shrewsbury after concerns were raised by the town’s MP about long delays in delivery times.
The company is now actively recruiting several new posties and parcel delivery drivers to help deliver to the town’s 49,500 addresses across 120 delivery rounds.
“Following the pressure I brought to bear, I am pleased to report that in response, Royal Mail are now recruiting additional staff to support their team of hard-working posties and parcel delivery drivers in our town,” said Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley.
“Several very worrying concerns had been raised with me about serious delays in postal deliveries and so I immediately wrote to the Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, Blair McDougall, as well as the Senior Public Affairs Officer for Royal Mail and the head of Shrewsbury Sorting Office, to push for action on these essential deliveries.
“I know how important it is to receive timely post for – for example – medical appointments or job interviews. And delays in receiving such post can cause a lot of heartache for people.”
The Minister replied to Mrs Buckley, saying that in February he met Royal Mail’s CEO, Alistair Cochrane, to press him on the action Royal Mail was making towards demonstrable improvements to service levels as a matter of urgency.
The MP added: “I heard that in some cases, weeks would go by without any post being received. One constituent reported receiving 16 letters in one day after weeks without any at all. Others told me of missed hospital appointments due to NHS letters not being delivered. I know that deliveries before Christmas were affected by staffing pressures, and January’s bad weather also caused disruption.
“But Royal Mail has confirmed deliveries are now being made six days a week when there is mail, with any missed mail delivered the next working day. Royal Mail has also explained that some items are sent using economy services, which are delivered alongside first or second class mail or after five working days — meaning multiple items may arrive together.
“However, the great news is that, to improve reliability, Royal Mail is now recruiting locally on permanent contracts with pay and pension benefits. Details are on the Royal Mail website.”