Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to improve the delivery performance of first class letters in the North East region.

The government has been clear that Royal Mail’s quality of service has not been good enough.

Responsibility for improving local delivery performance lies with Royal Mail’s management. Royal Mail has published a quality of service improvement plan alongside a £500 million investment into frontline resourcing.

I have met with Royal Mail and Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to discuss concerns about delivery performance and will continue to make representations to ensure that customers receive the service they are entitled to.