PROBLEMS with Royal Mail deliveries in Woodley and Earley have been raised in parliament.
Reading East MP Matt Rodda highlighted issues with delayed post during a debate on postal services on Monday, November 27.
Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine raised issues in her constituency over Post Office services.
“I thought (children) might look at me with astonishment if I told them that what they now regard as part of the local shop was once the organisation that provided everything from our telephone services at home, our mail and all sorts of Government forms, to pensions and stamps,” she said of changes to Post Offices.
Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP) said the outlets were important and often used a “community hub”.
Responding, Ms Jardine said that in the 1960s, there were 25,000 branches, but by 2021, there were just 11,415, and half of those were considered to be ‘vulnerable’.
Mr Rodda said issues affected the whole of the UK, not just Scotland, and there were also issues with the post.
“This is a truly national problem,” he told the chamber. “There is also a related problem of postal deliveries not appearing on time, which is having a huge effect on many residents.
“I have had closures of post offices in my constituency in Reading and Woodley, and also severe problems with residents not getting post on time, leading to people missing out on paying their bills and many other things.”
Ms Jardine said the service was “bring underminded”, despite the Post Office generating around £5bn for the economy every year, with more people relying on the branch network as banks were closing.
Kevin Hollinrake, the under secretary of Business and Trade, said: “The network actually is not in decline — more post offices opened than closed over the course of the past year—but we see fluctuations, and it is regrettable that Edinburgh West has seen closures in recent months.”
Mr Rodda asked Mr Hollinrake if concerns could be raised over a lack of cover for posties when they are off sick.
“That appears to be driving some of the problems with delivery,” Mr Rodda said.
“Royal Mail has recently been fined for its underperformance,” came the response.
“It has been affected by many different issues, including, of course, industrial action; it has had its share of issues this year.
“Hopefully it is putting those issues behind it, but we certainly expect to see a much better performance from Royal Mail going forward.”
In October, a Royal Mail spokesperson said of the issues affecting Woodley and Earley households that more staff were being recruited, with 16,000 being brought in during the run-up to Christmas.
“We are committed to restoring our quality of service to our customers. We have plans in place and dedicated teams responsible for improving deliveries in Woodley and Earley and throughout our delivery offices nationwide.”
They continued: “In the lead up to Christmas, we are taking on 16,000 temporary workers, more vehicles and additional parcel sorting sites to handle double the normal volume of parcels we expect over the period.
“These actions plus others are already making a difference in some areas and we are confident that they will continue to improve quality of service for our customers.”
