Royal Mail has missed its delivery targets for another year, but said more first-class mail has been sent on time over recent weeks after pledging to invest £500 million in improving its service.
Performance figures
Some 75.7% of first-class mail arrived the next working day over the 12 months to the end of March, according to the latest quality of service report. This was slightly less than the 76.3% achieved the prior year.
For second-class mail, 90.2% was delivered within three working days – less than the 92.2% achieved the year before. It means Royal Mail missed delivery targets set by regulator Ofcom for another year running.
Under the watchdog’s targets, 90% of first-class mail should be delivered the next day, and 95% of second-class mail should be delivered within three days.
Challenges and fines
Royal Mail said it had been a challenging start to the year, and that storms Goretti and Chandra as well as more staff off sick from the flu had affected its performance over the winter. The company was fined £21 million by Ofcom in October last year for missing its annual targets – the third-largest fine ever imposed by the communications watchdog. Ofcom said at the time that it was “unacceptable” that millions of important letters were arriving late.
Recent improvements
Despite performance weakening in the past year, Royal Mail has pointed to signs of improvement within its service over more recent weeks since the end of the last reporting period. It has consistently been delivering more than 80% of first-class mail on time over April and May, according to the business, following an improved performance at the start of the year.
Investment and reforms
It comes as Royal Mail has pledged to meet new delivery targets by May next year as part of a plan to invest £500 million in the service over the next five years. It has begun to phase in a new letter delivery model nationwide, subject to a consultation with union members, which will see it scrap second-class post on Saturdays. The reforms also involve delivering second-class post every other weekday only.
Royal Mail said the changes and planned investment will lead to it improving first-class next-day delivery to around 85% within nine months of the reforms being brought in, before reaching the 90% target set by regulator Ofcom within a year. The firm also vowed to deliver 93% of second-class letters in three days within the space of nine months, and hit the 95% target by May next year.
Union ballot
The results of a ballot put to members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over the agreed plan is due to be released on Friday.
Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail’s chief operating officer, said: “We’re putting significant investment into improving reliability and reaching these new delivery targets, but delivering lasting change across a network of this scale takes time.
“We have a plan to deploy the new delivery model to all delivery offices across the country by the Christmas peak period and have set clear targets for each quarter as changes are introduced across the network.
“Early performance this year shows we are tracking in line with the plan and moving in the right direction.”
