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Only 91.6 per cent of second-class mail arrived within three working days.
Royal Mail is demanding an “urgent” end to Saturday post as delivery targets are missed AGAIN. The postal service revealed that between 29 September and 30 November, only 91.6 per cent of second-class mail arrived within three working days.
First-class service fared worse, with just 77.5 per cent of letters reaching their destination the next working day. These figures fall short of regulator Ofcom’s benchmarks.
Ofcom rules mandate 93 per cent of first-class post to be delivered the following day and 98.5 per cent of second-class within three days. Royal Mail boss Alistair Cochrane admitted the performance was “not good enough” but claimed the current system is broken.
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Mr Cochrane is pushing for the “urgent” implementation of changes that would see Saturday second-class deliveries scrapped.
He said: “While these results show improvements for both first- and second-class mail, we recognise that our performance in letters is still not good enough.
“Unfortunately, under the current delivery model, there is no viable way to significantly and sustainably improve quality of service for customers.
“The answer is to urgently implement Universal Service reform, which is why we have now entered an intense period of discussions with the CWU to finally reach an agreement on these changes.”
It comes after Royal Mail has been given two weeks to respond to allegations that it is prioritising parcel deliveries over letters, resulting in delays across the postal network.
In a letter to the company, the Business and Trade Committee of MPs asked for commitments to improve what it described as “chaos”.
Royal Mail said the pilots “show the model is working, with increased efficiency and improved service levels, including over Christmas when volumes doubled”.
“Given strong evidence from the pilots conducted that USO reform will result in significant and sustained improvements in quality of service for customers, Royal Mail sees no alternative to its urgent deployment across the network,” it added.
In the letter to Royal Mail, the committee raised “significant concerns” about reports of “failures in service” that go beyond normal seasonal pressures.
It has demanded “categorical assurance” that parcels are not being prioritised over letters, and has given the company until 2 March to provide commitments to address the “chaos”.
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