A major joint complaint has been made to a regulator about postal delays, while a heatmap shows residents face a postcode lottery in Worcester.
Postal delays are causing missed appointments, lost bank cards, and weeks of undelivered mail, says Worcester’s MP, Tom Collins, who has joined forces with other MPs to fight for change.
However, Royal Mail says the service is already improving, with £500 million due to be invested in the service over the next five years.
Mr Collins has called for urgent action to address Royal Mail’s ongoing delivery failures, joining more than 100 MPs in signing joint letters demanding tougher regulatory oversight and meaningful reform.
Mr Collins, who has been campaigning for improvements since the start of the year, has written to Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, urging the regulator to take a firmer stance on Royal Mail’s repeated service failures.
HEATMAP: Worcester heatmap showing worst areas for Royal Mail postal delays (Image: Worcester MP Tom Collins)
He has also written to Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, requesting a review of whether Ofcom has sufficient powers to hold Royal Mail to account.
Mr Collins said: “This problem is being played out locally – and I’m working to see improvement here in Worcester – but it originates at the top.
“I’ve spoken in the past to the Minister about the need to fix these issues at the root causes – Royal Mail as an independent business is not compatible with the service we expect from it.
“While I’m happy to push for operational improvements, I’m not satisfied to keep pursuing solutions that are no more than short-term sticking plasters.
ACTION: Worcester MP Tom Collins has joined a broader campaign to improve the service provided by Royal Mail (Image: Tom Collins)
“MPs are ready for a real discussion about the future of Royal Mail and I think government should be ready to facilitate those.”
The letters point out that Royal Mail is consistently missing its delivery targets, even after they were lowered.
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In the last financial year, less than 76 per cent of first-class mail arrived the next working day, against a target of 90 per cent.
Just over 90 per cent of second-class mail was delivered within three working days, short of the 95 per cent target, said Mr Collins.
Mr Collins described his conversations with Royal Mail as “frustrating,” citing the company’s reluctance to acknowledge delays of up to three weeks reported by residents.
He said: “The most important thing is to get staffing to a level that can meet demand.
“Unless our local sorting and delivery office is properly staffed, these problems will carry on, and local people will pay the price.
“That can’t be how this goes – we need a Royal Mail that all of us can trust.”
Since the beginning of the year, 181 constituents have contacted Mr Collins to share how late deliveries have impacted their lives.
Reports include hospital letters arriving after appointments, replacement bank cards delayed by weeks, and several weeks’ worth of post arriving in a single bundle.
In July, Mr Collins launched a Royal Mail heat map to highlight the worst-affected areas in his constituency which shows WR1 and WR4 postcodes are the worst.
Mr Collins plans to raise the issue in a parliamentary debate on Royal Mail delays next month, the second time he has addressed the matter in Parliament, following a debate on March 18, 2026.
Mr Collins’ efforts are part of a broader campaign led by Labour MPs, including Dave Robertson (Lichfield) and Chris Bloore (Redditch).
Ofcom’s enforcement director, Ian Strawhorne, announced a new investigation into Royal Mail on June 1, 2026.
Royal Mail says its recent Q1 Quality of Service results show they are ahead of target for First Class performance with 85 per cent delivered on time, up from 76 per cent year-on-year. Second Class is on target at 91. per cent, up from 89.3 per cent year-on-year.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Our quality-of-service results are encouraging and show that the changes we are making are delivering real improvements for customers. First Class performance has risen significantly, with 85 per cent of letters now delivered on time, compared to 76 per cent a year ago.
“We acknowledge there is more to do and published our Improvement Plan in April which included a commitment to invest £500 million over five years. We are well over halfway through the rollout of our new delivery model across our 1,200 delivery offices which is continuing to see positive results – delivering to 98 per cent of addresses every day, up from 91 per cent before rollout. We expect our service levels to improve further as deployment continues.”
