Post Office owners set to go in front of House of Commons committee over delays
News / Mon 23rd Mar 2026 at 03:01pm
ON Tuesday afternoon, the new owner of the Royal Mail will face questions from the Business and Trade Committee in the House of Commons.
The committee is chaired by Birmingham MP Lian Byrne (who hails from Harlow) and will be questioning new owner Daniel Křetínský about its performance as the UK’s universal postal operator.
They will also hear from Ofcom and Communications Workers Union (CWU) representatives following the announcement of changes to the USO.
This will take place on Tuesday 24 March, 2.30pm
We know this is a matter has greatly exercised Harlow residents.
jarrett
2026-03-23 18:50:41
Google is your friend. Royal Mail and the Post Office separated in 2012, becoming entirely distinct entities. Royal Mail is a privatized courier for mail/parcel delivery, while the Post Office is a state-owned network of 11,500 branches offering banking, mail, and government services. They operate under a commercial contract, allowing the Post Office to offer services from competitors.
Ms Patricia Roberts
2026-03-23 18:57:17
Many Xmas cards arrived after Xmas at CM18 …… Have just waited two weeks for mail then got 21 letters in one go. Since then have waited 10 days and nothing arrived yet. Wrote a “letter” to myself (!) 11 days ago as a test and still not arrived. Disgraceful.
David Forman
2026-03-24 09:04:57
The Business and Trade select committee wrote to Royal Mail on February 16 and received a reply on March 10. Royal Mail argue that their new delivery model trialled in 35 Delivery Offices showed significant improvements. However, the posties union CWU agreed as part of the 2025 pay deal to conclude negotiations by July 18, 2025 on the new delivery model (NDM). By September of last year the managers union Unite CMA had agreed a deal on NDM. However, the CWU are still talking, but in January Royal Mail triggered their national dispute resolution procedure. Royal Mail says: "Deploying our new delivery model will result in a more reliable, efficient and financially sustainable service for our customers. By delivering cost savings and efficiencies, we can unlock more funds for investment in the service." It's worth reading the two letters at https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-and-trade-committee/news/212558/royal-mails-reliance-on-headline-letter-delivery-figures-cant-hide-service-failures-as-219-million-letters-arrive-late/
David Forman
2026-03-24 09:23:22
It is also worth noting that since 2004/5 the number of addresses Royal Mail delivers to has increased by 4 million whilst letter volumes has declined from 20 billion per year in 2004/5 to just 6.3 billion today. On any given day a postie walks past 6 out of 10 houses because they don't have mail for them. On parcels being prioritized Royal Mail says its Delivery Offices (DO) get clogged up with parcels and it becomes a safety hazard and hinders operational performance. Royal Mail's policy is to clear its DOs each day of letters and parcels. Also, they say: "The average size of a parcel handled by Royal Mail has grown by nearly 60% since 2018/19. Whereas we used to be handling CDs and books, we are now delivering more clothes, shoes and household appliances." That's why parcels get priority, especially when resource constraints occur.
Me, Harlow
2026-03-24 09:38:51
There's not enough posties, been understaffed for years in Harlow and I presume the rest of the country. Not enough staff will always cause delays, for example, when our local postie (who is a brilliant chap), is away on holiday, we do not get any post at all, over 2 weeks worth lands sometime when he gets back and I have been told by him nobody does his round when he is away. This is understaffing 100% and completely the fault of managers and the owners who are not employing enough people because they want to make as much profit as possible. Will only get worse with the new private owners.
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