Royal Mail fails one in four

Customers in a quarter of all postcode areas continue to receive a below minimum postal
service, with less than 90% of their first class mail being delivered the next day, even
when posted in the same postcode, according to figures published by Royal Mail today.
Commenting on the figures, Peter Carr, Chairman of Postwatch said; “It is good news
that Royal Mail’s overall performance for first class mail has improved but this cannot
disguise the fact that a quarter of all postcodes, many in densely populated urban areas,
are receiving a substandard service.
“It is now almost impossible for Royal Mail to meet the target imposed in its licence for a
minimum delivery standard across all postcode areas for the entire year. The Regulator
must act against this potential breach of the licence”.
Between July and September, Royal Mail delivered 91.5% of first class mail the next
working day meaning that over 78 million first class items were not delivered on time.
Following the threat of legal action from the Regulator in October, today’s results show
an increase in performance of some 2% for 1 st Class PPI and 6% for 1 st Class Response
services. However, further improvements of 16% and 9% respectively are still needed if
they are to meet the end of year targets in March.
Peter Carr continues, “We are pleased to see the improvement in business services
although there is still more work to do to reach satisfactory levels. The fact that Royal
Mail was able to improve its performance confirms that they were not taking all reasonable steps last quarter to meet their targets. The Regulator must therefore
continue with its action against this licence breach or risk any future warnings not being
taken seriously”.
Commenting on parcels performance, Peter Carr said; “The 6% improvement in delivery
levels for the Standard Retail Parcel is excellent news and reflects the decision to
operate this product through Royal Mail rather than Parcelforce.
“We congratulate East London for continuing to improve its performance to 90.5%.
Customers in East London are now no longer receiving a worse service than in the Outer
Hebrides”.
Top 20 best performing postcode areas: Percentage of first class mail delivered
next working day: July to September 2002
Figure in brackets donates position last quarter (April to June).
1. LN Lincoln (-) 96.2%
2. CB Cambridge (3) 95.8%
3. HU Hull (-) 95.2%
4. SR Sunderland (9) 95%
5. DG Dumfries (2) 94.9%
6. BN Brighton (-) 94.7%
7. DE Derby (-) 94.5%
8. DT Dorchester (-) 94.3%
9. S Sheffield (15) 94.3%
10. TR Truro (10) 94.2%
11. DL Darlington (-) 94.1%
12. CT Canterbury (-) 93.8%
13. BD Bradford (8) 93.8%
14. NG Nottingham (-) 93.8%
15. DD Dundee (-) 93.8%
16. WN Wigan (-) 93.8%
17. WR Worcester (-) 93.7%
18. KT Kingston Upon
Thames (-) 93.6%
19. HD Huddersfield (14) 93.4%
20. GU Guildford (-) 93.4%
Worst 20 performing postcode areas: Percentage of first class mail delivered next
working day: July to September 2002
Figure in brackets donates position last quarter (April to June).
1. RM Romford (-) 86.6%
2. ML Motherwell (-) 87.0%
3. WC London West Central (-) 87.5%
4. SE London SE (-) 87.7%
5. FK Falkirk (-) 87.9%
6. WS Walsall (9) 87.9%
7. IP Ipswich (7) 88.0%
8. BT Northern Ireland (-) 88.1%
9. SS Southend-on-sea (1) 88.1%
10. DY Dudley (-) 88.2%
11. PO Portsmouth (18) 88.2%
12. L Liverpool (-) 88.7%
13. W London West (-) 88.8%
14. CH Chester & Deeside (6) 88.9%
15. SW London SW (-) 88.9%
16. TF Telford (-) 89.0%
17. BL Bolton (-) 89.1%
18. IV Inverness (-) 89.2%
19. IG Ilford (10) 89.3%
20. G Glasgow (-) 89.3%
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
1. Royal Mail’s performance figures are released on Friday 29 November 2002.
2. More information about Postwatch, the watchdog for postal services, can be
found at www.postwatch.co.uk
3. In October 2002, Postcomm, issued a proposed enforcement notice to Royal Mail
for failing to take all reasonable endeavours to meet its licence conditions for 1 st
Class Postage Paid Impression services and 1 st Class Response services.