‘Unprecedented’ complaints over Royal Mail delays in Wakefield

An “unprecedented” number of complaints over postal delays have been lodged by people living in Wakefield, a councillor has said.

Wakefield Council has been urged to take action to ensure Royal Mail services improve across the district.

Normanton councillor Julie Medford has put forward a motion highlighting the problems faced due to the organisation’s “failures” and calling on it to provide “accurate and realistic information to its service users regarding its delivery time periods”.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said it understood some people in Wakefield had experienced delays and said higher volumes of mail around Christmas and poor weather had affected some deliveries.

The motion is to be considered at a full council meeting on 28 January.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Medford, a Labour councillor, said: “Royal Mail has, for a number of months now, not been able to provide or guarantee an adequate level of service to many residents and businesses district-wide.

“This is evidenced by an unprecedented level of complaints received by its councillors.”

She said residents had complained about missing hospital appointments and delays in receiving medication.

Others had reported delays creating problems with purchasing new homes and receiving bank cards.

The motion states: “Residents explain that they have often not received mail for weeks at a time, and councillors have cases of them then receiving up to 39 items of mail at once.

“Businesses express concern that goods posted to customers via Royal Mail are not always arriving in a timely manner and that this is subsequently affecting their businesses.

“Wakefield Council recognises that these failures by Royal Mail are not acceptable and that the service offered to customers must improve.”

Medford also claimed local services had been “put under severe pressure” due to “issues with recruitment and retention” of staff.

She added: “This negatively impacts customer service, given the high workload on deliveries and the local knowledge required for frontline postal workers to do their job.

“These delays affect communities across the Wakefield district but they can be resolved by Royal Mail taking action to level the playing field across their employment structures.”

If the motion is passed, the council would also raise the issue with the government and contact postal workers and union representatives “to better understand the challenges facing the service in the local area”.

Council leader Denise Jeffery previously said she planned to write to Royal Mail after the delays were raised at a meeting in November last year.

She said at the time: “Different postcodes across this district are struggling with mail, quite a number of them.

“I do feel it is something we should take up as a council.”

The Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know how important timely letter deliveries are, particularly when people are waiting for hospital appointments or medication, and we understand how frustrating delays can be.

“Deliveries continue in Wakefield, and the vast majority of letters are arriving as expected, though some customers have experienced delays.

“Christmas is our busiest period, with volumes more than doubling, and poor weather earlier this month in West Yorkshire also affected some deliveries.

“We’re working to ensure all routes receive a regular and reliable service and will continue to monitor performance closely.”