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The chief executive of Royal Mail is due to have a meeting in Scotland in the coming days to discuss growing fears over postal voting in the upcoming Holyrood elections.
Earlier this week, MPs said there had been “chaos” in the postal service since Christmas caused by stormy winter weather and staff sickness, with 219 million letters expected to arrive late this year.
Roz Foyer, general secretary of the STUC, described the situation as a “crisis” in a letter to Business Secretary Peter Kyle and warned: “The perilous state of Royal Mail should concern everyone across Scotland.”
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Some even believe the backlogs of mail and delayed deliveries are now threatening the Scottish Parliament election on May 7, in which up to one million people are expected to vote by post.
The crisis has been the topic of much debate at Westminster this week, with one village singled out for its “poor postal service”. Dargavel Village is a sprawling development of new-build homes on the south-western outskirts of Bishopton in Renfrewshire.
It is one of the largest brownfield developments in Scotland on the site of an old Royal Ordnance Factory. Handy for the M8 and Glasgow Airport, it has become a thriving new community. But residents say there’s one major problem; getting their post delivered on time.
Local MP Alison Taylor (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) had a meeting with Mr Kyle on Wednesday and told MPs today: “This matter is of particular importance in Scotland due to the elections on May 7, because postal votes will be issued soon.” She added that “we cannot have people missing medical appointments” due to postal failures, especially with the state of the NHS in Scotland.
However, Labour’s small business minister Blair McDougall – who represents nearby East Renfrewshire – insisted the problem was in hand. He said: “My office manager lives in Dargavel Village, so I have a person incentive to ensure that the service improves in the area my hon. Friend represents.
“We spoke about it yesterday; we have called in Royal Mail, we have brought together unions and management and we had a meeting yesterday with Ofcom to stress that things have to improve. Specific meetings are taking place on postal votes in Scotland, and we have sought assurances that they will not be impacted by the problems with the quality of service.”
Answering a similar question from Argyll and Bute MP Brendan O’Hara on Wednesday, Mr McDougall said: “We have sought reassurances from Royal Mail that the current issues with service across the country will not impact postal voting in the upcoming elections. I know that the chief executive of Royal Mail has a meeting in Scotland to discuss preparations in the days ahead.”
The 500 year-old Royal Mail’s £3.6billion buyout was cleared by shareholders in April last year, with the new owners EP Group – backed by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský – promising to maintain delivery standards. But MPs are concerned that standards are already slipping.
Postie ‘assaulted’ on his rounds
Meanwhile, back in Bishopton, hundreds more people have been told they will not be receiving any Royal Mail deliveries – although this due to one of the village’s own residents rather than the chaos in the postal service.
Services in the area were suspended after a postman was abused and assaulted on his rounds last month, with a Royal Mail customer services manager writing to households to say the risk to staff was “unacceptably high”. The police say they are investigating a report of an assault on Wednesday, February 25.
The eight streets affected are Carrick Road, Craighead Road, Almond Drive, Cawdor Crescent, Morar Crescent, Yarrow Crescent, Teviot Drive and Ettrick Drive, whose residents must instead collect their post from the Erskine Delivery Office until further notice.
So if anyone has an letter they need urgently delivered to somebody in Bishopton or Dargavel Village… it might be best to consider sending an email instead.
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