Reading MPs complain to Royal Mail over missed deliveries

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https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news ... eliveries/

The MPs in Reading have written an open letter to the Royal Mail after numerous complaints from neighbours about missed post and deliveries.

The Royal Mail is the main postal service and courier company in the UK, maintaining three delivery offices in Reading.

All three of the MPs for the town have complained that residents are missing out on letters about health appointments and other important correspondence.

The letter by Matt Rodda, Labour MP for Reading Central, Olivia Bailey, Labour MP for Reading West & Mid Berkshire, and Yuan Yang, the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, states: “We have had several constituents write to us with concerns regarding their Royal Mail Service and our caseworkers have written to you respectively on behalf of these constituents.

“We have been told that it is common for constituents to get all post once a week rather than regular deliveries, with some reporting they are receiving post fortnightly.

“Many constituents report that they have missed long-awaited health appointments due to the delays. Some constituents are under the impression that staff have been diverted to provide attention to parcels, which is concerning to us.

“Please can you clarify the current operational issues faced and provide reassurance, with timescales, as to when normal regular postal services will resume for those across our constituencies?

“We look forward to hearing from you and thank you in anticipation."

The delivery offices are located in Gillette Way, Whitley, Loverock Road in West Reading and Suttons Business Park in Earley.

Acknowledging the letter, a spokesperson for Royal Mail mentioned that delivery performance is improving in the town.

The spokesperson said: “We know how important it is that customers receive their mail when expected, particularly important items such as hospital appointments.

“We would reassure customers that mail continues to be delivered across Reading every day.

“Where a short-term local issue affects an individual route, our teams work to deliver any outstanding mail as quickly as possible.

“Our latest published results show that performance in Reading is improving. First Class performance has risen from 75.4 per cent delivered the next working day at the end of the last financial year to 83.4 per cent in our latest results.

“Across all letter products, 93 per cent of letters are delivered on time and more than 99 per cent within a week.

“We know there is more to do and are investing £500 million over five years to improve reliability.

“We are making significant changes across our network, including rolling out our new delivery model across all 1,200 delivery offices, which will help provide a more reliable and consistent service for customers across the UK.”

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Now the MPs are starting to circle en masse; this could be a growing story.