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Correspondence between Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Ofcom reveals that postal services in the district remain under strain, with residents experiencing delays to important and time-sensitive mail, including medical appointments, legal correspondence and official documentation.
At a Council meeting in November, members asked Chief Executive Alison McCullagh to write to Ofcom seeking urgent engagement on the issue, citing the adverse impact of reduced postal deliveries on citizens across the district.
In her letter to Ofcom’s Chief Executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, Ms. McCullagh said the Council was particularly concerned about the effect of delays on vulnerable residents and those awaiting critical information.
Responding, Jonathan Rose, Ofcom’s Director for Northern Ireland, acknowledged ongoing delays to postal collections and deliveries across the UK and their impact on local communities, including Fermanagh.
He confirmed that Ofcom is aware of widespread disruption to services and said Royal Mail has repeatedly failed to meet its legally binding quality-of-service targets.
According to Ofcom, Royal Mail was fined £21 million in October 2025 for failing to meet First and Second Class delivery targets during the 2024/25 financial year.
The penalty follows previous fines of £5.6 million in November 2023 and £10.5 million in December 2024, marking the third consecutive year of regulatory non-compliance.
The latest fine is the third largest ever imposed by Ofcom and reflects what the regulator described as the harm caused to customers and repeated breaches over several years.
In his letter, Mr. Rose said Ofcom had introduced changes to Royal Mail’s delivery obligations in July to better reflect customer needs and support long-term sustainability of the service. These included new “tail of mail” targets designed to improve performance for items that miss initial delivery deadlines.
However, he acknowledged that performance continues to fall short of both regulatory requirements and public expectations, and warned that further penalties could be imposed unless Royal Mail publishes and implements a credible plan for sustained improvement.
While welcoming the Council’s intention to re-engage directly with Royal Mail, Ofcom offered to support discussions and said it would be willing to meet Council representatives either in person or online.
Despite these assurances, no specific commitments were given regarding improvements to postal delivery reliability in Fermanagh, nor were any timelines outlined for restoring services to expected standards.
Councillors have previously warned that continued disruption risks isolating communities and placing additional strain on older people, businesses and those dependent on timely correspondence.
