Royal Mail: South-east London

Opened the debate

Postal workers in East Dulwich have faced significant challenges due to the closure of their local delivery office, leading to unreliable services. Constituents have missed hospital appointments, important documents like death certificates, and critical financial items such as bank cards and cheques. The lack of a fit-for-purpose replacement facility has resulted in delays and failures during peak times, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Government Response

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for securing this important debate and standing up for her constituents, who have clearly suffered through the teething issues of the change to the sorting office and from the impact of coronavirus, which has affected other users and customers across the country. Before addressing the specific concern about disrupted delivery services in south-east London, I will provide a bit of context and outline the performance of, and pressures on, postal services in the current times. I agree with the hon. Lady, and I recognise the important role that postal workers have played and continue to play in serving customers and supporting local communities across the UK. Royal Mail's well-established contingency plans to mitigate disruption to postal services are overseen by Ofcom, the independent regulator. Specific changes to Royal Mail's services are an operational matter for Royal Mail. Any reduction of services by it in exceptional circumstances will be temporary and undertaken only when absolutely necessary. It is for Ofcom to monitor service levels. The regulatory framework allows emergency conditions allowing Royal Mail to modify operations if necessary to sustain the universal postal service during the pandemic. Royal Mail temporarily suspended Saturday letter deliveries nationwide from 2 May to 13 June 2020, but continued parcel delivery on Saturdays. In south-east London, service levels have been affected owing to necessary changes to business operations and increased staff absence during the pandemic. Safety of workers is a key priority; Royal Mail took significant steps to ensure its staff work in a safe environment following Government guidelines. Royal Mail has implemented social distancing measures such as reducing the number of staff in delivery vans from two to one, which have had an impact on service levels. Absence rates peaked at above 20% in May and remain higher than usual across south-east London postal areas. The hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood highlighted difficulties faced by her constituents due to changes to delivery operations and the pandemic. Royal Mail has been transparent about the changes in services during challenging conditions. Royal Mail intends to recruit an additional 33,000 temporary workers in advance of Christmas to help manage increased parcel volumes caused by coronavirus-related online shopping increases. The universal service obligation remains a challenge for Royal Mail due to reduced letter volume and increased parcel demand. The Government continue to monitor the situation closely, pushing Royal Mail to maintain high standards during this period. Any permanent change would need to be assessed and approved through processes with Ofcom before being decided in Parliament.