Royal Mail referred to regulator by MPs amid worst performance in its history

MPs have referred Royal Mail to the communications watchdog for not delivering letters across the country six days a week.

The company was accused of having “systematically failed to deliver” its universal service obligation in a report by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee.

The scathing document also suggested Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson was “not wholly accurate” in the answers given during evidence sessions.

It comes after it was revealed Royal Mail did not deliver almost half of first class post on time in the run-up to Christmas, what is thought to be the worst performance in the firm’s history.  

Now Royal Mail could face a fine of around £1 million after Ofcom said it “won’t hesitate to take enforcement action if required”. 

Royal Mail was fined £1.5 million in 2019 for failing to deliver first class mail on time. 

While the delivery service avoided a penalty last year for its service because of the impact of the pandemic, Ofcom warned Royal Mail to stop using Covid-19 as an excuse.

‘Deprioritisation of letters’

Ofcom said last night the firm’s performance is “well short of where it should be”.

A spokesman said: “We’re very concerned about this and have asked the company to explain what it’s doing to bring service levels back up as a matter of urgency”. 

Ofcom added: “We have received the Committee’s report and will consider it carefully.”

Last year Royal Mail approached the Government about moving to a minimum five-day delivery service for letters, excluding Saturdays, in place of the current minimum six-day delivery service.

The committee report said it had received “widespread evidence of the company’s deprioritisation of letters over parcels”.

Committee chairman Darren Jones said: “Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.

“Ofcom must start enforcement proceedings to ensure everyone gets a consistent service wherever they are. Otherwise, what’s the point in having a universal service obligation at all?”  

MPs also made an unprecedented intervention by recalling Mr Thompson to give evidence after he denied tracking postal workers during their rounds and urging them to work faster, using the Postal Digital Assistant system.

It said the committee’s “concerns were not allayed, in fact they grew” when they spoke to Mr Thompson.

Review management of the firm

The report said MPs “did not believe that such widespread errors could happen without direct or indirect approval of management”.

The committee urged the Royal Mail’s board to review management of the firm on grounds of “negligence” if they knew nothing about the practices.

The report also called on the information commissioner to check the legal basis for the collection and use of this data.

It stated: “Some of the statements made by the chief executive officer during oral evidence provoked a huge response from postal workers, who contacted the Committee directly, claiming that the Committee had been misled.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Royal Mail is proud to deliver the universal service, and our policies are clear that parcels and letters should be treated with equal importance.

“We have informed the committee that we will be reviewing the consistent application of our policies regarding the delivery of letters and parcels across the business.

“We will share our findings with the committee and Ofcom.”

They added: “We reject the suggestion that Royal Mail may have misled the BEIS Select Committee in that process.”