UK Royal Mail increases security of letters operaration
All employees joining Royal Mail will be vetted to ensure they are not attempting to conceal any past criminal convictions, the company has announced.
The new safeguard will further strengthen the already extensive range of security checks which Royal Mail has in place to ensure the safety of the mail.
Adam Crozier, Royal Mail’s Chief Executive, said: “Vetting will add an important new layer of security to Royal Mail’s operations. Our customers can post their mail with even more confidence than before.”
Vetting has long been standard practice for some groups of Royal Mail employees who routinely handle cash as part of their daily work. But the regulations on checking data have previously prevented vetting for most postmen and women.
After discussions with the Government, Royal Mail has now been given the authority to vet all new recruits.
Mr Crozier said: “Every single letter is important to Royal Mail so we are pleased that we have this additional security check.
“Royal Mail expects the highest standards of integrity from every employee and I am very confident that the vast majority of our people are scrupulously honest and do all they can to protect the security of the mail. This latest security measure demonstrates that Royal Mail is determined to do everything it can to ensure the security of our letter and parcel services.”
Royal Mail had said in the spring it would review recruitment procedures following a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary programme which claimed to show security breaches.
Vetting of new recruits is just one of the new measures Royal Mail is now putting in place.
The company is also working closely with its employment agencies to create a pool of high calibre temporary employees. This involves giving new recruits a passport-style ID card carrying details of the training and work experience they have had in Royal Mail, even if they have worked in different offices and have moved in and out of employment with the company. The system is designed to allow Royal Mail speedier access to the best and most experienced temporary employees when workloads increase.
Mr Crozier said: “Royal Mail’s lawyers have strongly challenged one of the main claims made by the makers of the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary – making clear that two credit cards acquired during filming were sent by a courier firm and not by Royal Mail.
“We are continuing to demand an apology for this wrong allegation,” said Mr Crozier.
Royal Mail has also today released figures which again show that the overwhelming majority of mail arrives safely.
In 2003/04 just 0.08% of all mail – 16 million out of 21,000 million letters – did not arrive at the correct destination or was declared lost because of serious delay. Two year’s ago, at the beginning of Royal Mail’s three year Renewal Plan, the same research showed almost twice as many lost or delayed letters. The biggest single cause was misdeliveries to the wrong address – more than 8 million of the total.
Adam Crozier said, “With 99.92% of mail delivered safely, it is a very, very small proportion of the UK’s mailbag that experiences these problems. Nonetheless, we take very seriously every letter delayed, lost or stolen from us, and are finding practical solutions to those difficulties that are within our control – including more and better training, and today’s changes to our recruitment practices.”
More than 2 million letters were declared “lost” because of substantial delay – which means they did actually arrive but over 15 days late. The biggest single factor delaying mail last year was the unofficial strike centred in the London area in the autumn of 2003.
In the previous financial year, 2002/03, there were 14.4 million missing or seriously delayed letters and 90% of the increase in the 2003/04 year to 16.1 million was due to the disruption and delays caused by the strikes.
Just over one million of the 16 million missing or seriously delayed letters last financial year were stolen. Criminals who had targeted Royal Mail vans, or had stolen directly from delivery postmen and women out on their rounds, took well over 80% of all stolen mail.
The total of stolen mail amounts to 0.005% of all letters posted. During the period covered by these figures, 261 postmen and women were attacked while delivering the mail.
A further report also showed that in 2003/04, there was a small fall in the number of inquiries and complaints to Royal Mail’s customer call centres. There were 1,647,000 calls to Royal Mail last financial year from customers concerned about the service – slightly down on the 1,654,000 calls the previous year.
