Royal Mail

Lord Pack Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

In preparation for this Question, I spoke to both the CEO of Royal Mail and directors of Ofcom. For context, it is worth stating that letter volumes have halved in the last 10 years, while the number of addresses has increased significantly. While I agree with my noble friend that performance has not been where it needs to be, there is a quality of service plan that has been negotiated between Ofcom and Royal Mail, and indeed, this year, Royal Mail is above the targets that it set for itself to meet those aggressive performance targets by March of next year. Some £500 million of additional investment has been committed, and there was an agreement with the CWU to ensure that the employment practices are sustainable for the commitments to improvements and services. So, while I agree with my noble friend that the current performance is not where it could be, the CEO of Royal Mail made commitments early last week that he is confident that it will meet the targets by April of next year.

[Lord Pack (LD)]

My Lords, one of the significant problems faced by Royal Mail staff in trying to reach those targets is the very large number of physical attacks by dogs on postal staff—over 2,000 incidents every year. This problem is, unfortunately, made worse by the very poor design of many letterboxes, which means that you cannot safely deliver a letter without putting your fingers at risk from an angry dog’s teeth. What work are the Government doing with the relevant interested parties to ensure that the standard of letterboxes is improved and that postal staff can do their work in safety in future?

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

I will have to refer this back to the Ofcom regulators. I had not prepared for a question on letterboxes, unfortunately, but I will write to the noble Lord giving him an update.