Performance of Royal Mail

Tom Morrison Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for securing this important debate.

Six months ago, in a Westminster Hall debate, I talked about how bad the Royal Mail service in my constituency had become. I talked about how residents had missed medical appointments, bills and other important documents because of the service’s inability to get its primary job done. I also mentioned how contacting Royal Mail with these issues rarely led to a satisfactory response, or even a response at all. Members from across the House will be less than surprised to learn that following that debate, I immediately had an email from Royal Mail saying its representatives wanted to meet and were only too keen to engage with the issues that my constituents were facing. I met them and they told me all about Royal Mail’s plans to get the situation fixed, but six months on, clearly none of that has turned out to be true.

Since then, over 300 constituents have contacted me to tell me in detail how the problem has affected them personally. Wayne wrote to me about the struggles he has had managing his mother’s probate. He is still missing several documents and is worried about completing before the legal deadline. Susan’s husband has functional neurological disorder and has missed multiple medical appointments because of Royal Mail’s inability to deliver letters on time. Martin tried to remortgage his house, but the documents never arrived from his solicitor. Paul’s son missed a Department for Work and Pensions appointment because the confirmation letter never arrived. He was then sanctioned and will have no income for the month. These are real lives—these people are facing serious situations, all made worse because Royal Mail cannot do the job it is paid to do. How can we resolve this?

[Samantha Dixon (Chester North and Neston) (Lab)]

The hon. Gentleman talks eloquently about the effect of the poor service on our working and personal lives, but there is also an effect on our democracy. As next May’s local elections draw closer, voters will be watching their letterboxes for the arrival of their postal votes. In May 2025, some 2.4 million people—nearly one in five voters—registered for a postal vote, so I am seriously concerned about the impact of the service on the delivery of our democracy.

[Mr Morrison]

The hon. Member makes a really important point. We have seen through door knocking in my constituency that people are now less willing to take a postal vote, which could have real implications for our democratic process going forward.

How does this situation get resolved? I want to make it clear that this issue does not land at the feet of our postal workers.

[Claire Hazelgrove (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Lab)]

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests regarding the CWU. On that precise point, does the hon. Gentleman agree that this really is not the fault of our dedicated postal workers? In fact, it is a real loss across the country, and certainly in my constituency, to see many dedicated and long-serving postal workers stepping away from roles that they have held for decades because of the uncertainty and the workload that they face.

[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.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

I spoke the other day to a postie who covers a large delivery round in Glastonbury and Somerton. He told me that the posties’ handheld device monitors their every move, alerting managers if they are stuck in traffic, if they are waiting for an elderly resident to come to the door, if they are too slow and even if they are using the toilet. Royal Mail has admitted to using the tracking data in conduct cases. Does my hon. Friend agree that posties should be trusted, not monitored by machines, and that we should recognise them as key workers?

[Mr Morrison]

I have nothing to add to that. My hon. Friend has made a fantastic point, and I completely agree.

Ofcom also needs to take responsibility. Years of fines and damning verdicts have done nothing to resolve poor levels of service. Royal Mail has been given a free pass. Ofcom has allowed the company to relax its targets, yet it still missed both reduced targets in the first quarter of 2026-27. In any other line of work, that would not be acceptable, so why are the Government not acting? I implore the Minister: let us just get this done. The Government have to step in and take meaningful action either through giving Ofcom stronger powers that actually bite or through other means. Royal Mail is an iconic service known across the world, but its legacy is being completely trashed by the management at the top.

Let me end with two examples of how Royal Mail’s failures have impacted on lives in my constituency. Kate, who lives in Cheadle village, wrote to me:

“I missed an important medical appointment in mid-March as the letter never arrived. I had to rearrange the appointment, creating a delay of over a month to commence my treatment, this also complicated my travel plans and insurance. My GP surgery had to waste time chasing this up and then the GP had to re-refer me…the expensive scanner plus clinical and admin staff are not being used efficiently. This costs us all.”

Laura wrote to me and said that she had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time. She received an important hospital appointment letter the day after the appointment. Letters from her oncologist for treatment frequently arrive late, which adds to her stress during an unbelievably difficult time for her and her family. It is clear in Laura’s case just how crucial the universal postal service is to people’s lives; it is absolutely fundamental.

I hope that Royal Mail management is listening to this debate and begins to appreciate just how important it is that they get this job done properly. Just in case, I will be personally delivering the complaints that I have received from my constituents directly to Royal Mail headquarters—after all, with a postal service this bad, I might as well deliver them myself.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Royal Mail: Performance

Tom Morrison Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)]

Just last week, a resident in Bramhall told me that his sister in Scotland sent two letters—one to himself in Greater Manchester and another to Australia. I am pretty sure that everyone can guess what happened. The letter to Australia arrived not one, not two, but 10 days earlier than the letter to Manchester. Joan from Heald Green had a similar issue, with no post being delivered to her in about three weeks, although her parcels were being delivered. When she asked the postal worker about the letter delivery, she was told that no staff were available to deliver the letters, and that parcels were being prioritised as they were a more lucrative side of the business.

Ironically, one of my constituents almost missed lifesaving surgery, with the letter arriving on the same day that the surgery was supposed to take place. This issue disproportionately impacts older and more vulnerable people. As Cheadle has one of the oldest populations in Greater Manchester, this causes particular concern for me.

Time and again, I have raised this issue with Royal Mail, and time and again I get the same response back, highlighting how terrible it is for my constituents and assuring me that they will look into it, but nothing changes. I have asked for meetings, but they never get arranged. The utter contempt that Royal Mail has shown Members of Parliament raising this issue is absolutely staggering.

It is about more than post; it is about people’s lives—their hospital appointments, bank statements, birthdays and christenings. It is a service that so many people rely on and trust. Without an effective and timely mail service, many people in my constituency will be cut adrift and isolated, which is why this is so important.

Mismanagement should have consequences, and the Government must take urgent steps to ensure that Royal Mail is held to account. I look forward to hearing what the Minister will do to ensure that my constituents get the postal service that they deserve and that bosses get their act in gear and start doing the job they are paid handsomely to do.

Fireworks: Sale and Use

Tom Morrison Excerpts

Monday 9th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Mr Tom Morrison (Cheadle) (LD)]

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for leading this debate.

I begin by thanking the many people from my Cheadle constituency who have signed the petitions, and all those who have contacted me over the last few months about the sale and use of fireworks in our community. Firework displays are incredibly popular in Cheadle. A number of organisations and community groups hold events throughout the year, including around bonfire night and new year, as well as during religious and cultural festivals such as Diwali and Chinese new year. The vast majority of events are held and managed properly, and adhere to all the necessary guidelines and laws. Such events are vital in bringing people together and building community cohesion across Cheadle. That said, many of my residents have contacted me about the other side of firework use, which relates to what is said in the petitions.

The growth in antisocial behaviour across the country has alarmed many of us, and Cheadle is no exception. Cuts over the last decade to local authority and police spending have seen our youth services reduced to below the bare minimum, and on-street policing stretched to breaking point. That has resulted in more and more antisocial behaviour in some areas in my constituency, leaving many of my residents feeling helpless and unsafe. All cases of antisocial behaviour peak and dip in patterns depending on the time of year. Summer months, for example, can be terrible as the lighter evenings lead to more young people staying outside with little to do, while the period just before Christmas, when firework sales are up, is another period of peak activity.

I want to make the important point that this is not a demonisation of young people. For 10 years, central and, in some cases, local government have let our young people down. We have seen young people’s services systematically decimated in this country to the point where they can hardly be called services any more. Youth centres are now a thing of the past; after-school clubs and services are regularly cut as schools manage even tighter budgets; and as the cost of living crisis grows, sports clubs and other activities have become too costly for many families living in my area. All in all, many young people in my constituency have been given a raw deal and are left with literally nothing to do.

Without the appropriate structures and guidance around them, a small minority of young people will find less productive ways to fill their time. That leads to the issues faced today by some of my residents, such as Stephanie, who on her way back home one evening was set upon by a group who threw a firework at her. Stephanie was incredibly lucky; she is disabled and the firework missed her by just a few inches—she told me that she could feel the heat of the rocket go past her head.

I have also been contacted by Di, who has been forced to provide what she calls a cocktail of drugs to her dog throughout October and November due to the incessant noise and flashes from fireworks being set off in her street. Her dog is terrified and can be calmed only through sedation. It puts so much strain on Di and has caused her huge amounts of stress and anxiety. As well as by Stephanie and Di, I have been contacted by residents who suffer from PTSD, some of whom are veterans. Fireworks cause huge amounts of mental stress for those people, further impacting their mental health and quality of life.

What can we do? For me, enforcement is the issue here. The current law puts much emphasis on councils ensuring that fireworks are being sold correctly and legally, and it is the responsibility of local councils and the police to ensure that any breaking of the law is tackled and punished appropriately. But in a world where councils are being forced to cut more and more services and police chiefs are writing to the Chancellor to say that they cannot fund the officers they currently have, is it any wonder that our constituents feel that not enough is being done? It is clear that the solution to tackling this issue lies with our local authorities and giving them the tools to crack down on shops and businesses that are selling fireworks illegally.

We need to ensure that the police have the resources to tackle antisocial behaviour when it peaks, such as during fireworks season, and that those crimes are put through the system as efficiently as possible so that effective punishments are delivered and those impacted are given the justice they deserve. We have to be able to provide that level of service when tackling antisocial behaviour. Otherwise, any new laws or guidance the Government produce will be as ineffective as the laws we currently have. Parallel to that, we need a statutory youth service that provides for, guides and helps young people to reach their full potential.

Finally, there are two things raised in the petition that I would be interested in further discussing. First, the regulation of quieter fireworks for private use makes complete sense to me; I would be very supportive of that. Secondly, providing local authorities with the power to declare firework-free zones may be a useful tool in tackling nuisance hotspots. While police and council resources are stretched, that could help to concentrate efforts in particular areas. However, it should not be used as a way to escape the fact that more funding is required for our emergency services and local authorities.

I thank my residents for contacting me about this issue and would like to say to them that I understand how troubled and worried they are by what is happening in their communities. I will do all I can to push the Government to ensure that the police and Stockport council have the resources needed to tackle this issue.