Government must step in to investigate Royal Mail ‘fake deliveries’ scandal, say postal workers

Postal workers have called on the Government to investigate Royal Mail senior leadership over the “fake deliveries” scandal.

The Telegraph reported earlier this week that postmen and women claimed Royal Mail managers were telling them to record some parcel deliveries as “inaccessible”, even if they never attempted to deliver the item.

This meant customer operations managers would still receive their mid-year bonuses, understood to be based in part on hitting targets for the number of parcels that leave Royal Mail depots.

Royal Mail claimed the number of inaccessible deliveries had not risen except during recent storms, and denied the existence of a bonus incentive encouraging items not to be delivered.

On Tuesday, the postal workers’ union and a former minister called for the Government to intervene.

A Communication Workers Union spokesman told The Telegraph: “The managers responsible for the destruction of postal services in the UK need to be held to account.

“The Government should step in to ensure the senior leadership of Royal Mail is scrutinised and exposed and, where needs be, action is taken.”

Kevin Hollinrake, the Shadow Levelling Up Secretary and a former postal affairs minister, backed calls for the Government to examine the allegations.

He said: “I would certainly expect the Postal Services Minister to look at this and the Select Committee may also decide to consider doing so.”

Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of IDS – Royal Mail’s parent company, was given a pay rise from £655,000 to £714,000 in 2024/25.

Company accounts show that when other bonuses are factored in, the maximum pay he could receive rose from £2.8 million to £3.2 million.

A report on the Royal Mail last year by the Commons Business and Trade Committee found it had “systematically failed” to deliver its “statutory Universal Service Obligation” and called for Ofcom to investigate the issue.

The regulator has gone on to sanction Royal Mail twice – and has hit it with fines totalling more than £16 million in the last 13 months over service levels and performance.

An anonymous postman, who told The Telegraph managers were telling posties to incorrectly record deliveries as “inaccessible”, said on Tuesday he would “100 per cent” support a probe into the allegations and provide the Business and Trade Committee with evidence.

‘Lies and cutting corners’

He said: “These claims should be investigated and I’d 100 per cent happily provide evidence on any probe. It is encouraging poor service, lies and cutting corners.”

The allegations emerged as the Royal Mail is about to undergo a dramatic change.

Earlier this month, it was revealed the postal service will be sold to a Czech billionaire in a £3.6 billion deal, taking it out of British ownership for the first time in 500 years.

Liam Byrne, the chair of the Business and Trade Committee, has not commented on the takeover since it was agreed, and the committee is not due to meet again until Jan 7.

Royal Mail is also planning a trial of reduced service in some areas that will allow second-class letters to be delivered just three times a week between Monday and Friday.

An Ofcom spokesman said: “Ofcom measures Royal Mail’s performance against annual delivery targets, from April to March. In the last 13 months, we’ve fined the company more than £16 million for failing to meet these targets without justification.

“After we pressed Royal Mail on what it’s doing, it published an update on its improvement plans, and we’ll be holding it to account for delivering a better service.”

‘No bonus for non-delivery’

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are confident all items posted by the recommended dates will be delivered in time for Christmas. We have not experienced any network-wide delays over the festive period.

“Our people work really hard every day to do their best for customers, and this is especially true at Christmas. On our busiest day last week, we delivered 35 million letters and nine million parcels.

“This is only achieved by our 130,000 colleagues pulling out all the stops and working really hard in all weathers.

“A property should only be identified as ‘inaccessible’ if we cannot access the building, it is unsafe to deliver, or adverse weather prevents delivery – we monitor deliveries centrally and have seen no increase in inaccessible deliveries over Christmas outside of recent weather events.

“There is no bonus incentive which would encourage items to not be delivered, and managers are not targeted on inaccessible deliveries. This would be counterintuitive to our business as a delivery company.”

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