Many parts of the UK are experiencing significant delays with Royal Mail deliveries.
With letters arriving a week or even two week’s late people are missing medical appointments, important financial deadlines and family news.
The below template motion comes from Hull Liberal Democrats and calls for a resolution to local royal mail delays and greater engagement with the council over the issue. You can find the original motion from Hull here or copy and paste the template motion below:
Council notes reports from across the UK that Royal Mail is failing to deliver vital post, in a timely manner, to some of those most in need.
Examples include missed medical appointments, late fines (which have in turn incurred further penalties) and important items from banks, solicitors as well as important personal letters and cards from family and friends that have arrived late. Council notes such incidents have occurred in AREA NAME as well as across the UK, and they are generally attributed to staff shortages and inflexible working arrangements.
Council further notes that there has been a steady increase in the cost of posting items, with Royal Mail will charge £1.35 for a first-class stamp from 2 April 2024. This marks a 40p increase in first class postage in the space of a year. Residents are rightly concerned about the increasing cost, and declining reliability, of using our postal service.
Council also notes the recent report from Ofcom which laid out options for reducing the number of weekly Royal Mail deliveries from 6 to 5 or even 3, and the concern this has caused for local small business owners who rely on daily postage to fulfil orders.
Council believes that Royal Mail is a vital service for everyone in AREA NAME and it has a duty to deliver post regularly and reliably. The consequences of not doing so can be extremely serious.
Council requests that the Chief Executive work with the Leaders of the political groups on the City Council to write a joint letter to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail stating the concerns councillors and residents have over the reliability of Royal Mail delivery in AREA NAME.
Council calls for an urgent action plan to be drawn up to tackle delays and ensure people always receive their post on time.
Council further requests that senior Royal Mail management for AREA NAME are invited to a meeting of INSERT RELEVENT SCRUTINY COMMITTEE to report on their current performance and their plan to improve it.