Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I agree with my hon. Friend. He may have seen Charlie Taylor’s report, which was published on Monday, and the accompanying written ministerial statement, which supported the report and stated which measures would be taken forward. I agree that attendance at school is a key factor in driving up levels of achievement. We need to change the culture whereby it is acceptable regularly to take family holidays during the school year. We also need better statistics on truancy, which was another of the recommendations. I would welcome such a debate, but my hon. Friend may have to contain himself until the new Session.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Many of my residential and corporate constituents have raised significant concerns with me about delayed and missing post in the Crawley area. Despite a Freedom of Information Act request by the Crawley Observer, Royal Mail has refused to release performance data for the RH10 and RH11 postcodes that cover my constituency. Will my right hon. Friend raise this matter with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills? Will he also consider the need for a debate on the transparency of Royal Mail on its performance and customer service?

[Sir George Young]

We take very seriously information about the quality of service. My understanding is that Royal Mail publishes such information every quarter. Of course I will raise with Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Ministers the case of the two postal districts to which my hon. Friend has referred to see whether we can get those specific performance statistics. If they are deficient, I hope that Royal Mail will take the appropriate steps and drive up the quality of service to the level to which my hon. Friend’s constituents are entitled.