UK Royal Mail may face fine for failing targets

ROYAL MAIL could face an unlimited fine for failing to meet 80 per cent of its delivery targets, it has emerged.

The group failed nearly twice as many performance targets as last year, meeting only three out of 16 targets set for the period covering April 2002 to March 2003.

According to Postwatch, the postal services watchdog, Royal Mail missed the minimum performance levels for the delivery of first and second class post and also failed to meet targets for its heavily advertised special delivery service.

The poor record means that Postcomm, the postal regulator, could levy an unlimited fine on the company.

“We will consider what action we will take, including financial penalties, at the next postal commissioner’s meeting,” Postcomm said.

However, Royal Mail hit back at the figures, saying that its first class service was the most reliable it has been for seven years. The average delivery performance for first class mail has risen by 2 per cent over the past year.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said that the results, which are judged on just two months of the year, were “misleading” and that the service was improving. “We’re not saying we have done brilliantly, but some of the targets were missed very narrowly,” she said. “The cumulative results for the whole year do demonstrate an improvement.”

Postwatch, an independent organisation, said the results meant that more than one million first class letters a day did not arrive on time. “These are very disappointing results coming at a time when customers are paying higher prices for their post,” Peter Carr, the chairman of Postwatch, said.

The licence issued by the regulator sets a year-end target for the months of February and March. Performance was 91.7 per cent against a target of 92.5 per cent.

Jerry Cope, Royal Mail’s managing director for the UK, said: “We are disappointed to have failed the licence target by a small margin but we are encouraged that the improvement over last year demonstrates that the efforts of our people to drive up performance are working.”

The proportion of postcode areas consistently meeting targets rose from 60 per cent in 2001-02 to 92 per cent in the past year. The best performing area for next-day delivery was Sunderland. The worst was southwest London.

(c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2003