UK Royal Mail to sue over theft claims

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier has begun legal action against Channel 4 over its controversial Dispatches documentary which claimed that postal workers had intercepted mail and stolen credit cards and other valuables.

Crozier, who is battling to restore public trust in Royal Mail's integrity, has instructed London law firm Schillings to sue Channel 4 and seek an explanation and apology from the programme makers.

The documentary, secretly filmed over several months last year and broadcast in April, included scenes showing a Royal Mail employee admitting to having stolen credit cards from the mail and passing a stolen card to an undercover reporter.

In an exclusive interview, Crozier told the Sunday Herald that Royal Mail had obtained evidence from Barclaycard that the stolen cards featured in the programme were never in the postal system, but had been delivered via courier firms.

''These facts fundamentally undermine the allegation that these cards were stolen by an organised gang working for Royal Mail,'' he said.

But the company added that disciplinary procedures against a number of staff following the broadcast of the programme are continuing. Crozier said: ''The programme did not fairly reflect the vast majority of our people who are terrific – but with 200,000 people, you will clearly get some who will not behave.''

He said that it had, however, thrown up several serious issues for Royal Mail concerning the recruitment and training of temporary staff.

It is now working with recruitment companies to raise standards for hiring temporary staff, including introducing a Royal Mail ''passport system'' for employees. Crozier said he is hopeful that talks with the government will lead to Royal Mail being granted permission to vet all staff for criminal records.

Under current legislation, the majority of its Mail staff are classed as industrial workers, meaning that an employer has no automatic right to vet them. Crozier hopes such staff can be recategorised to reflect the fact that many of them regularly handle valuables such as cash, credit cards and passports.

''Public confidence is very important,'' said Crozier, but he maintained that Royal Mail's figures show that the crime rate is very small. ''If anything, the figures have been coming down over the years,'' he added.

Royal Mail handles an average of 82 million items per day, rising to around 140 million during the Christmas period, and Crozier said only a very small proportion go missing.

A spokesman for Channel 4 said the incident relating to the alleged theft of Barclaycards by Royal Mail staff was just one part of an hour-long film. ''Whatever the situation with that card, it was obtained fraudulently and fenced by a Royal Mail employee,'' he said.

Referring to the overall programme, he added: ''We stand by this picture of theft within the Royal Mail and the film clearly highlighted significant areas of concern. The film also revealed a damning catalogue of poorly trained and ill-disciplined workers and ineffective managers.''

Crozier is leading a major restructuring of Royal Mail which include taking steps to eradicate outdated work practices, shedding 30,000 workers and introducing better systems for sorting, transporting and delivering mail.

He has already introduced several controversial changes, such as a single daily delivery and size-based pricing. ''I'd say 80percent of the changes have gone quite well,'' he said.

He added that prior to the strikes, service levels were the best for 15 years. ''Now our number one priority is to get levels of service to where they should be,'' he said.