WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols met with Royal Mail at Birchwood to discuss delivery concerns from local residents.
People living in Birchwood, Glazebrook and Rixton have reported to Ms nichols over the past few months that they are not receiving mail on time, such as important hospital appointments and letters from banks.
Ms Nichols met with Royal Mail at the Birchwood Delivery Office to raise these issues on behalf of residents, and find out how Royal Mail are going to improve the service around tghe area.
Ms Nichols said: “It was good to meet the Royal Mail team at the Birchwood Delivery Office, following concerns raised by constituents about service reliability issues in the WA3 area- with some residents reporting delays in receiving important post from the NHS, banks, and cards for special occasions.
“While the service is overall good, and I never get complaints about the posties themselves who are rightly held in high regard by the community, it was acknowledged by the management that there have been some recent service problems due to a few different factors.
“It was explained, for example, that there are a number of experienced colleagues currently on sickness leave awaiting things like knee replacements due to the toll that the job can take on the body, and staff from other branches and agency staff filling some of these temporary gaps who can be less familiar with routes and so on than the regular staff. Two permanent new starters joined last week and there’s more recruitment taking place, and as those who are off begin to return too once they are well enough to do so, hopefully people will notice the improvement locally over the coming weeks and months.
“Under new ownership and as potential changes to the USO for Royal Mail are considered, I will continue to keep in dialogue with residents, the CWU and Royal Mail to make sure that this vital public service is delivered locally to the standard the public expect as a result of any national changes.”
Royal Mail’s operational and commercial decisions are independent of the Government. The provision of Royal Mail CSPs is therefore an operational matter for the business, with Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, setting and monitoring Royal Mail’s service standards. Ms Nichols will continue to do what she can to hold the company to account.
