Royal Mail: Performance

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Adam Dance (Yeovil) (LD)]

I am really worried that we will get to a point where people in Yeovil will lose their money, damage their health or worse because of the failings of Royal Mail.

Residents such as George from Chard have missed vital hospital appointments because confirmation letters arrived after the scheduled date. They are now on a waiting list and hoping for a cancellation. Mary and too many others have reported that bank cards and financial documents have been delayed or lost entirely, which has led to additional interest being added to unpaid bills. One constituent has had prescriptions sent to the wrong address repeatedly for months; meanwhile, another has been receiving someone else’s important legal documents. Another Yeovil resident, Bernice, told me that the situation got so bad last year that she did not receive mail for four weeks, and was then delivered it all on the same day and could not get in her front door. Of course, this is not a reflection on the hard-working posties and Royal Mail staff in Yeovil; I will keep saying that. The poor pay and conditions for Royal Mail staff are not good enough.

I appreciate that the Minister understands and shares the concern of our constituents, but this powerlessness has to change. Can he set out what discussions he has had with Ofcom on holding Royal Mail to account for failing to uphold the universal obligation and its improvement plan, and clearly operating a parcel-first policy? Can he also set out what assessment he has made of the impact on the wellbeing, health and finances of rural residents as a result of delivery failures by Royal Mail? Finally, can he tell us what his Department is doing now to empower the Government to better hold Royal Mail and its bosses to account?

Government powerlessness has to end. Residents and Royal Mail staff in Yeovil deserve much better.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

I think that the Member has finished speaking.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Byrne]

On the issue of dates, does the hon. Gentleman agree that the blame starts in 2013, when the coalition Government disastrously privatised this national treasure? Does he agree that Royal Mail needs to be taken back into public ownership?

[Luke Taylor]

I agree primarily with the point made by the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman), who listed promises made by the Prime Minister. I would like to see the Prime Minister held to account a little more for his promises, which are undelivered—just like the mail in Sutton and Cheam.

Sutton residents in SM1, SM2 and SM3 cannot rely on the post any more. When Royal Mail fails to do its job properly, everyday people are left dealing with the fallout: prescriptions do not turn up, hospital letters land after the appointment has passed, Mother’s day cards arrive when the moment has gone and parking fines arrive after the grace period has expired.

However, the plural of anecdote is not data, so when I saw that this debate had been scheduled, I decided to get my own. Last Wednesday I sent out a batch of first-class letters from my constituency. In the letter I asked people to tell me when their delivery turned up and how long it had taken. The results: out of 23 replies so far, only 15 arrived the next working day, five took two days, and three took three days or more to arrive, with the latest arriving this morning. Yes, that is a small sample size—my credentials as an engineer will not let me fail to mention that—but Royal Mail’s target to have 93% of first-class mail arrive the next day was failed catastrophically, with my experiment placing its success rate closer to 65%.

When someone pays for first class, they are not making a complicated request: next-day delivery—that is the promise. Royal Mail may be a private company, but it delivers a public service, which is supposed to be overseen by Ofcom. A private company failing to deliver the public services it is mandated to do and getting away with it because of rubbish regulators—that covers at least 50% of the speeches delivered in this Chamber. It feels so familiar to me, having done it over and over. The Government are further eroding the confidence of our public by not showing improvements in any of these services.

Let me conclude with some questions for the Minister. Local elections are approaching in May, and the Government know that many people rely on postal votes to express their democratic right. The Minister has only to look across the Atlantic for recent experience of the undermining of faith in the electoral system when there is a lack of confidence that ballots will arrive on time and be counted. What assessment has been made of the impact of delays on local elections? What plans do the Government have to require Royal Mail to remove the shackles on local delivery offices to help them to clear rounds at this critical time? Will the Minister give a read-out of what firm actions and conclusions were agreed in his meeting with Ofcom last Wednesday, after his statement in the Chamber last week?