Performance of Royal Mail

Debate between Sarah Dyke and Tom Morrison

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

I spoke the other day to a postie who covers a large delivery round in Glastonbury and Somerton. He told me that the posties’ handheld device monitors their every move, alerting managers if they are stuck in traffic, if they are waiting for an elderly resident to come to the door, if they are too slow and even if they are using the toilet. Royal Mail has admitted to using the tracking data in conduct cases. Does my hon. Friend agree that posties should be trusted, not monitored by machines, and that we should recognise them as key workers?

[Mr Morrison]

I have nothing to add to that. My hon. Friend has made a fantastic point, and I completely agree.

Ofcom also needs to take responsibility. Years of fines and damning verdicts have done nothing to resolve poor levels of service. Royal Mail has been given a free pass. Ofcom has allowed the company to relax its targets, yet it still missed both reduced targets in the first quarter of 2026-27. In any other line of work, that would not be acceptable, so why are the Government not acting? I implore the Minister: let us just get this done. The Government have to step in and take meaningful action either through giving Ofcom stronger powers that actually bite or through other means. Royal Mail is an iconic service known across the world, but its legacy is being completely trashed by the management at the top.

Let me end with two examples of how Royal Mail’s failures have impacted on lives in my constituency. Kate, who lives in Cheadle village, wrote to me:

“I missed an important medical appointment in mid-March as the letter never arrived. I had to rearrange the appointment, creating a delay of over a month to commence my treatment, this also complicated my travel plans and insurance. My GP surgery had to waste time chasing this up and then the GP had to re-refer me…the expensive scanner plus clinical and admin staff are not being used efficiently. This costs us all.”

Laura wrote to me and said that she had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time. She received an important hospital appointment letter the day after the appointment. Letters from her oncologist for treatment frequently arrive late, which adds to her stress during an unbelievably difficult time for her and her family. It is clear in Laura’s case just how crucial the universal postal service is to people’s lives; it is absolutely fundamental.

I hope that Royal Mail management is listening to this debate and begins to appreciate just how important it is that they get this job done properly. Just in case, I will be personally delivering the complaints that I have received from my constituents directly to Royal Mail headquarters—after all, with a postal service this bad, I might as well deliver them myself.