Business of the House

Connor Naismith Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

Phone boxes remain important for many of our villages and towns across the country, as well as in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. He has taken the opportunity this morning to mention the phone box in his constituency, and I will ensure that he gets a good reply about it.

[Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab)]

Many of my constituents, particularly in the parish of Willaston and the town of Nantwich, have been in touch about significant delays in receiving mail from Royal Mail. They often go weeks without receiving a single piece of mail, and then receive a whole stack of letters weeks later. As I am sure my right hon. Friend appreciates, that results in my constituents missing important correspondence, including about hospital appointments. When might we have a debate on Royal Mail’s performance?

[Lucy Powell]

I can absolutely identify with what my hon. Friend describes because I have had many similar issues in my constituency. I know that there are systemic problems in Royal Mail to do with staff morale and systems that it uses, which mean that people do not get a service that they can rely on. I advise my hon. Friend to raise that directly with Royal Mail—and perhaps with the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne), as I did on behalf of my constituents, because the Committee holds regular accountability hearings with Royal Mail.