Performance of Royal Mail

Debate between Amanda Hack and Tom Morrison

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Morrison]

The hon. Lady makes a really important point. Royal Mail used to be characterised by a really low turnover of staff, but that is changing rapidly, and the culture of the workplace is changing with it.

Following on from that point, I visited sorting offices in my constituency last year and talked through the issues that the postal workers faced. They work in incredibly hard conditions, but that is being made even worse, because senior management cannot get a grip. It is the so-called leaders at the top who are failing and leaving staff lower down to get the blame and angst from angry customers.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I have also made visits to local sorting offices, and the super-frustrating thing to hear about the real issues we are having with services is that they were all foreseen. Colleagues in post offices across the country would have identified that they were going to be a problem. This issue was foreseen by the posties, so why did the management not listen? Does the hon. Member agree?

[Mr Morrison]

I completely agree. If we listened to the staff on the ground, a lot of these problems could have been foreseen.