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A staff sickness crisis at the Royal Mail has hit deliveries for more than 250,000 homes across the country.
During one week in January it was reported that up to 15,000 employees – nine per cent of the workforce – were off sick, severely impacting on the postal service.
There are around 56 worst-hit areas, 18 of which are in London. This is due to 38 delivery offices struggling to cope with what Royal Mail said were Covid-related absences and ‘other local factors’.
The delays to deliveries of letters and parcels could see the Royal Mail face a fine of more than £1million from regulator Ofcom over failing to meet delivery targets.
Staff absence related to Covid at dozens of Royal Mail delivery offices across the country has resulted in delays to post for more than 250,000 homes
It comes as 1,300 people in Dulwich, south-east London signed a petition over what they called ‘a failing postal service’.
‘For years, residents of SE22; East Dulwich, Dulwich Village and parts of Peckham Rye have suffered with a failing postal service,’ the petition reads.
‘This has led to many suffering with lost prescriptions, lost documentation, lost banking details, fraud and stress.
‘Royal Mail has been failing to provide even a basic level of service in beleaguered SE22 and the surrounding areas.
‘We just want to get our mail on time without waiting weeks between deliveries.’
The Royal Mail addressed the delay on its website, confirming signficant issues as South Midlands Mail Centre and detailing postcodes in Swindon, Muswell Hill and Manchester among others where customers were worst affected.
Undelivered letters have been piling up due to Covid staff shortages at the Royal Mail – which has affected more than 34 postcode areas.
Undelivered letters have been piling up due to Covid staff shortages at the Royal Mail – which has affected more than 34 postcode areas. Pictured: A postie in Balham, south London
Delays in postal services over the New Year’s and Christmas period have carried over into early January as the Royal Mail updated customers on impacted offices on Wednesday.
‘I’m still waiting for a letter from my dad which he posted two weeks ago,’ said one south-east London resident, according to the Standard.
‘I spoke to the postman today who said that letters are piled up in the depot but they just haven’t been able to deliver them.’
Susan Oakey in Eccles, Greater Manchester, told ITV News she was left waiting for an important medical letter for more than three weeks.
‘It was horrendous – a lot of documents we knew were supposed to be coming didn’t come. The post has been delayed – delayed for a long time…’
Royal Mail has been under increasing pressure in recent years as customers switch from posting letters to sending parcels as online orders soared while shops were forced to close or people stayed off high streets.
In 2020, the company delivered 496m parcels during the last three months of the year, 30 per cent higher than the same period in 2019.
Staffing sickness are also stretching the company’s ability to fulfil its universal service obligation, which requires Royal Mail to deliver letters six days a week and parcels five days a week to every address in the UK, at a standard price.
Postal services regulator Ofcom is ‘closely monitoring’ Royal Mail’s performance to ensure targets are met, otherwise it could face hefty fines.
‘We know how important a reliable postal service is to customers, and we can take action if Royal Mail fails to meet the annual targets we set for its performance,’ an Ofcom spokesperson said.
‘As the regulator for Royal Mail, we’re concerned about these delays and have made it clear to Royal Mail that it must take steps to improve its performance as the effects of the pandemic subside.’
Royal Mail must deliver at least 93 per cent of first-class post across the UK within one working day of collection, and 98.5 per cent of second-class post within three working days across the year.
In 2020, the company was fined £1.5milllion for missing its 2018/19 delivery target.
A Royal Mail spokesperson told the BBC: ‘We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.
‘In a small number of local offices this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as Covid-related self-isolation, higher-than-usual levels of sickness absence, resourcing or other local factors.
‘We are providing targeted support to the local offices affected by these issues.’
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