Business of the House

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important matter. Planning matters are best resolved locally, but I agree that developers have a responsibility to the wider community. The Government are very keen to ensure that infrastructure is in place, including schools, and we are recruiting more teachers so that we have the people to teach in the schools that are built. I will raise his concerns with the relevant Minister, and if he wants a meeting to discuss these matters, I will help him get one.

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

Posties deliver our post and keep this country functioning. They do an absolutely tremendous job. It is an essential public service, and at the heart of it is the USO—the universal service obligation, which is a legal duty to ensure the delivery of mail to all UK addresses at the same price six days a week, with next-day delivery by first class. The Royal Mail is failing people in my patch on its USO, and in Blyth and Ashington people are raging at the late arrival of important medical documents about NHS appointments, financial documentation and other important correspondence. It is causing huge distress. The delays are apparently the result of a failure to address staff shortages and the prioritisation of parcels over post. Would my right hon. Friend arrange a debate in Government time to discuss the failings of the Royal Mail and the acute problems it is causing for some of our most vulnerable constituents?