Royal Mail has been hit with a whopping £5.6 million fine for failing to meet its delivery targets, it has been confirmed.
It comes following the completion of an Ofcom enforcement investigation.
The industry regulator was asked to investigate the country’s national postal service after it was referred by the Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee – which is a cross-parliamentary committee made up of MPs nationwide – back in March for a suspected breach of the universal service obligation (USO) requiring the company to deliver letters six days a week.
The committee said Royal Mail had “systematically failed” in its duty to deliver letters, and claimed to find the company had prioritised more lucrative parcels instead.
🚨 We have fined Royal Mail £5.6m for failing to meet its 2022/23 delivery targets by a significant and unexplained margin.
Delays caused considerable harm to customers, and we found insufficient steps were taken to prevent this failure.
Royal Mail is required to deliver 93% of first class mail within one working day, and 98.5% of second class items within three working days, while its target for completion of delivery routes is 99.9%.
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But following the investigation, Ofcom said that, for the 2022-23 financial year, the postal service’s reported performance results showed that it had only delivered 73.7% of first-class mail on time, and just 90.7% of second-class mail.
On top of this, the investigation found that only 89.35% of delivery routes were completed for each day on which a delivery was required.
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Ofcom said today’s fine of £5.6 million should serve as “a wake up call” for the company, and it must “take its responsibilities more seriously”, rather than relying on shifting the blame for its failures on to the aftermath of the pandemic and the several days of strike action by the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) several strikes in 2022.
Royal Mail has been fined £5.6m for failing to meet delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement of Ofcom, said in a statement today: “Royal Mail’s role in our lives carries huge responsibility and we know from our research that customers value reliability and consistency.
“Clearly, the pandemic had a significant impact on Royal Mail’s operations in previous years. But we warned the company it could no longer use that as an excuse, and it just hasn’t got things back on track since.
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“The company’s let consumers down, and today’s fine should act as a wake-up call – it must take its responsibilities more seriously.
“We’ll continue to hold Royal Mail to account to make sure it improves service levels.”
The committee’s inquiry took place amid a turbulent time for the Royal Mail when 112,000 of its staff -who were members of Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) – staged “the biggest strike of the summer” and several other subsequent walk-outs last year in a still-ongoing dispute over pay and the company’s modernisation plans.
The fine has been issued following an Ofcom investigation / Credit: Royal Mail
Addressing the issuing of the fine this morning, a Royal Mail spokesperson described the last year as “uniquely challenging” for the postal service, before going on to cite the strike action as being a reason for quality of service being impacted.
“We are very disappointed with our Quality of Service performance in 2022-23, and acknowledge Ofcom’s decision today,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
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“Last year was uniquely challenging for Royal Mail. Quality of service was materially impacted by the long-running industrial dispute which included 18 days of strike action. We are pleased that Ofcom has acknowledged that elements outside of Royal Mail’s control had a significant impact on service levels and has adjusted the figures to 82% for first class and 95.5% for second class mail.
“We take our commitment to delivering a high level of service seriously and are taking action to introduce measures to restore quality of service to the level our customers expect.”
Featured Image – Royal Mail
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Bury primary school teaching assistant jailed after pleading guilty to child sex offences
Emily Sergeant
A teaching assistant from Bury has been sentenced after pleading guilty to multiple sex offences against a ‘vulnerable’ young boy.
Terri Cook, of Masefield Avenue in Radcliffe, appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court last week, where she was sentenced after pleading guilty to eight charges of sexual offences.
The sentencing came after officers from Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Child Protection Investigation Unit (CPIU) began in ‘intense’ investigation into Cook back in September of last year after a member of the public reported seeing her out with a young boy.
The subsequent investigation showed that she had been grooming and manipulating the young boy into engaging in a sexual relationship with her.
Police found numerous messages on Cook’s phone where she had been inciting sexual communications with the boy and holding indecent images of him, and she was also found to have been buying him expensive items, like jewellery and clothing, for a period of more than nine months.
During a powerful statement read out in court, the young boy was described as being ‘extremely kind and caring’, with his mum adding: “Despite experiencing traumatic events earlier in his life, he continued to be positive and compassionate. He smiled every day and made us all laugh.”
Cook was sentenced four-and-a-half years in prison for eight charges of sexual offences.
Speaking following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Adam Stanfield, from GMP’s Bury CPIU, said: “This case was a horrific example of calculated abuse of power, and Cook targeted a vulnerable child who put his trust in her.
“Grooming is a form of manipulation that can leave lasting emotional and psychological damage, and our priority remains protecting young people and supporting victims as they recover.
“This sentencing also emphasises our unwavering commitment to protecting male victims. They can be victims too and I urge anyone who believes they may have been through anything similar to please report to us.”
Featured Image – GMP
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The richest people in the North West have been revealed, featuring Harry Styles, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and Gallaghers
Daisy Jackson
The Sunday Times Rich List has been published today, revealing the wealthiest person in the North West to be Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The annual list highlights the richest people in the UK, often filled with famous faces and business moguls.
This year, the 350 individuals on the list hold a combined wealth of £783.5 billion – that’s about a quarter of the UK’s total annual GDP.
The Sunday Times Rich List also highlighted other North West figures, such as Harry Styles, the Issa brothers, and Tyson Fury.
Other famous faces from elsewhere in the UK include Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, JK Rowling, Charlotte Tilbury and Sir Lewis Hamilton.
It found that Sir Jim Ratcliffe – chemicals magnate, Ineos CEO, and Manchester United shareholder – still tops the list regionally despite falling revenues and a £515.7 million loss.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa are fourth on the list of the wealthiest in the North West – the Blackburn billionaire brothers founded the EG Group petrol stations, and acquired the supermarket giant Asda.
Betfred brothers Fred and Peter Done come next, with an estimated net wealth of £3.6bn.
Property developer and Renaker founder (Renaker is behind the Deansgate Square towers) Daren Whitaker saw his wealth grow by £100m in a single year.
Elsewhere on the list are Liam and Noel Gallagher, making their Sunday Times Rich List debut at £375 million.
Michael and George Heaton, the British brothers behind the Represent streetwear brand, paid themselves minimum wage for a decade before selling a stake and making £18.5m each.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: “This year’s Rich List is a tale of two exoduses. One in six of the individuals and families who appeared on the list two years ago don’t feature this time.
“Many foreign billionaires who have been living in the UK have also dropped out because they have moved away. We have also seen a sharp rise in the number of British nationals now resident in Dubai, Switzerland and Monaco. As UK nationals these people remain on our Rich List — wherever they now live.
“These two exoduses pose challenges for the UK economy and its public finances. Will more of the wealthy now set up or grow their ventures overseas and in doing so create fewer jobs here? How much tax — if any — will Rachel Reeves’s Treasury be able to extract from those affluent Brits who have now left the country?
“For nearly 40 years the Sunday Times Rich List has analysed the fortunes of Britain’s most affluent people. We believe understanding where wealth lies and where it is being accumulated is a vital part of a functioning democracy.
“Over the years our research has told us a lot about our country, charting the way a generation of largely self-made entrepreneurs overtook the old money of the landed gentry.
“This year’s edition shines a light on fortunes made from artificial intelligence, driverless cars and crypto-currencies as well as baby milk, make-up, hoodies and other everyday items. We know many of our readers find those rags-to-riches stories of entrepreneurs who started out with little more than a laptop and an idea particularly inspiring.”
Emily Sergeant -
13th November 2023 
