Royal Mail is failing to deliver in London

THE appalling state of London's postal service is exposed today in a
survey showing one in five first-class letters arrive late. Royal Mail fell
way short of its targets for delivering both first and second class letters
in a random survey by the Evening Standard. On top of the woeful performance for first-class mail, almost one in 10
second-class letters failed to get to the mailing address on time, our survey
found. Regular strikes, a massive turnover of staff and mail centres with the
lowest productivity rates in the country contribute to making the capital's
postal system the worst in the country. If our survey was repeated across London, almost a million letters – 600,000
first-class and 380,000 second-class – would be late each day. Most
disturbing, the damning snapshot of the postal system is in line with the
Post Office's annual performance figures for London. Last year, 84 per cent of London's first-class mail arrived by the next day,
compared to the target of 92.5 per cent, while 97.5 per cent of second-class
letters were delivered within three days, compared to the 98.5 per cent goal. In the worst example uncovered by the survey – in which Evening Standard
staff sent almost 1,000 letters in one week – one Harefield resident had no
post from Monday to Thursday. Kate Crockett said: "The Post Office sent leaflets to our village saying
they were 'restructuring' their Uxbridge office and that delivery times would
be 'variable' for a while. On Friday morning we had a 'special delivery' and
that only delivered to specific houses in the street." Much of the UB8 to UB11 post codes went without mail for most of the week. During this time an average of 22 employees a day were on sick leave at the
180-strong Uxbridge office. Even allowing for this, most of the addresses in our survey failed to get
first-class mail on time. The service was universally poor across London. Only five out of 20 people
received more than 90 per cent of their first class mail the following day. About half of the group received one in five letters late – contributing to
an average figure of 79.5 per cent of first class mail on time. Some of the letters failed to arrive a week later. Just over one in 30
first-class and one in 55 second-class letters were missing by the following
Tuesday. The results could not come at a worse time for Royal Mail with
industry regulator PostComm threatening to give away a greater proportion of
Royal Mail's licence to other operators unless its service improves. In London the Post Office has been told to meet new targets of 92.1 per cent
of first-class mail on time by next year. For the next financial year that
must rise to Kay Dixon, London chairman of consumer body PostWatch, said:
"These figures are extremely disappointing. What worries us above all is that
there is no still sign of urgent action by Royal Mail to turn around the
situation in London." The cost to business runs into millions of pounds a
year. A spokesman for London Chamber of Commerce said: 92.5 per cent. "Even in the electronic mail age, many small businesses still rely on the
post for most of their correspondence." For second-class mail, which performed better but was still below par, eight
out of 20 households saw all letters arrive on time. Most, however, were
still waiting for two or three letters at the end of the week. Overall, some
92.5 per cent of second-class mail arrived on time. Delays are most likely to occur at one of London's five giant mail sorting
centres, according to Royal Mail. A spokesman said: "The problem is not at
the delivery offices but in the mail centres. The majority of our staff are
hardworking but there is no escaping the fact that productivity rates are
five to 10 per cent off national averages." Union leaders say poor morale has produced a huge turnover of staff, which
is a "major factor" in poor delivery times. Norman Candy, of the
Communication Workers' Union, said: "In some parts of London annual turnover
is 20 per cent and there are too few experienced staff." Royal Mail says it
is taking steps to tackle problems specific to areas of the capital with the
worst service – notably east, north and north-west postcodes. Twenty Evening Standard employees posted empty first and second-class
envelopes to themselves and each other from their local post boxes on a
Monday. Of 400 first-class letters sent, 318 arrived the next day. Of 400
second class letters, 370 arrived by Thursday.
EVENING STANDARD, 03rd September 2001