Tag: Royal Mail

Now victims of crime have details lost in post in latest Government data bungle

Posted by | Jan 23, 2008 | |

Sensitive details about victims of crime may have fallen into the wrong hands in yet another lost data bungle by Government officials.
Four computer discs containing confidential details of magistrates court cases are missing after being posted through the Royal Mail.
The missing material includes details of at least 55 defendants and other “restricted” data not released in open court, potentially including the names and addresses of alleged victims and witnesses.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed last night that an urgent inquiry is under way following the latest in a string of blunders, which have seen the personal details of millions lost by the Government.
Last night critics called for a ban on personal data being posted, and called for a new criminal offence of “recklessly mishandling” such material.
In November officials at HM Revenue and Customs lost the entire child benefit database, and earlier this week the Ministry of Defence admitted that a laptop stolen from a Naval officer contained details of 600,000 military staff and potential recruits – leading to a ban on civil servants taking laptops out of offices.
The latest department to come under fire is Jack Straw’s Ministry of Justice.
The courtroom data discs were posted by recorded delivery on December 15 but never arrived, according to insiders.
To compound the humiliation, the discs were being sent as part of an urgent investigation Mr Straw had ordered into a separate fiasco.
The inquiry is into claims that hundreds of magistrates court cases have been quietly dropped when defendants failed to turn up, meaning that many suspects, including sex offenders, may have escaped justice.
As part of efforts to investigate the scandal, court officials put data on the four computer discs which are now missing.
Ministry of Justice officials refused to comment on exactly what “restricted” data had been lost.

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TNT posties set to explode monopoly (UK)

Posted by | Jan 20, 2008 | |

TNT postmen will soon take on the Royal Mail on the streets of Scotland, the boss of the private postal operator has hinted.

Nick Wells, Chief Executive of TNT Post, told Scotland on Sunday that the company was gearing up to launch trials of its first “end-to-end” service, where items are picked up, sorted and delivered by TNT staff without any involvement from the Royal Mail.

He gave his clearest indication yet that some of the locations, which the company has so far refused to confirm, are likely to be in Scotland.

Although a number of private operators have entered the UK postal market since it was opened up to full competition in February 2006, Royal Mail continues to dominate what is referred to in the trade as the “final mile” – the actual delivery of letters and parcels to individual addresses by postmen.

Since its launch in Britain in 2003, Dutch company TNT Post has seized a 9% share of the market, yet it still has to rely on Royal Mail for the final leg of deliveries, effectively handing business back to its competitor.

Wells said: “Last year we handled over 1.8 billion items, but we give all of that back to Royal Mail. Royal Mail still do the end-to-end. We’re Royal Mail’s biggest client.”

It is understood that TNT Post is planning to launch its own end-to-end service early this year in order to reduce the amount of business it hands back to its rival.

Although Wells refused to disclose locations and timings of the end-to-end pilots for competitive reasons, he said TNT Post has been building up a sizeable business in Coatbridge, Glasgow, over the past 18 months.

However, Wells said the company had no plans to support the struggling Post Office network in Scotland, which will see up to 30 branches closed or downgraded this year.

Postcomm, the postal services regulator, recently urged private companies such as TNT Post, DHL and UPS to strike deals with the Post Office network over undelivered mail.

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Courier told to explain lost data (UK)

Posted by | Jan 19, 2008 | |

The papers were found on Thursday by a motorist on a roundabout near Exeter.

Karl-Heinz Korzenientz picked up hundreds of documents with passport photocopies and benefit claims details.

Secretary of State Peter Hain has ordered an immediate inquiry. TNT said it “deeply regretted” the temporary loss of the documents.

The papers included incapacity benefit files, others relating to pensions and Jobseeker’s Allowance, bank statements, passport documents and copies of passports.

There were also documents relating to home loans and mortgage interest, and details of national insurance numbers, addresses and dates of birth.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said: “We have now recovered a number of documents following their loss from a TNT vehicle and we believe they constitute all the material that was lost.

“We have no reason to believe that any individuals’ details have been misused. We take the security of individuals’ data extremely seriously.

“As part of our own inquiry, we have asked TNT for a full and urgent report on all of the circumstances relating to the loss of this data.”

The Information Commissioner has also been informed.

The courier firm said: “TNT takes the loss of any consignment extremely seriously.

“We are currently working closely with partners in the DWP and a full and thorough inquiry into this incident is currently being undertaken.”

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Postcomm takes first steps to split Royal Mail operations

Posted by | Jan 18, 2008 | |

Postcomm has set the ball rolling on a consultation which could lead to the eventual separation of Royal Mail’s collection and delivery operations in order to improve on current access agreements.

A consultation document was published yesterday to review the current framework allowing rival operators to use Royal Mail’s delivery arm. Earlier in the week, Postcomm proposed the principle of ‘wholesale equivalence’ which has already been adopted by Ofcom to reduce the burden of regulation on BT.

These moves stem from Postcomm’s Strategy Review which was launched in August 2007. As part of this review Postcomm has made a commitment to evaluate the current access agreements and identify and resolve any problems with the existing arrangements.

A letter was sent this week to all postal operators, organisations representing mail users and postal watchdog Postwatch asking for their views on how best to regulate the industry from 2010 when the current price control arrangement expires.

In the letter, Postcomm chief executive Sarah Chambers said: “We want to begin by taking a top-down approach, based on what we have learned from our Strategy Review. We want to consider whether adopting a different approach could allow a significant reduction in the scope of regulation, whilst maintaining sufficient protection for customer and operators in those areas where Royal Mail has substantial and enduring market power.”

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Postcomm launches access review consultation (UK)

Posted by | Jan 17, 2008 | |

The focus of the access review is the current framework under Condition 9 of Royal Mail’s licence and the operation of access agreements. This new consultation is the first phase of an access review and aims to identify what problems – if any – exist with the current access framework. Later phases will consider the remedies needed to resolve any problems, as well as how to implement them.

Notes for editors

On 15 January 2008, Postcomm published an industry letter setting out scenarios for the future of the price control and regulation, including how Postcomm intends to take forward work covering price regulation, wholesale equivalence, cost transparency and access. As part of that consultation, Postcomm wants to consult on how effectively current access arrangements (as established under Condition 9 of Royal Mail’s licence) are working. This follows on from a commitment made in Postcomm’s “Strategy Review: Emerging Themes” report, published in August 2007, in which Postcomm said it planned to undertake a wide review to determine how well access had operated to date and to consider whether the introduction of an Access Code could be an efficient way to address potential concerns regarding non-price forms of discrimination for access users.

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