Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has welcomed the news that improvements are being made by Royal Mail to rectify the appalling service levels experienced by local residents before Christmas and again in the new year.
In December 2023, Nusrat met with senior representatives from Royal Mail to discuss serious delays in postal deliveries in Wealden and especially in Hailsham. At the meeting, Royal Mail gave assurances that additional resources were being redirected to Hailsham to recover service levels in the area. However, many local residents have been in touch with Nusrat to report that despite improvements in deliveries during the run up to Christmas as a result of her efforts, the issues were reoccurring in the new year.
Nusrat has convened a follow-up meeting with Royal Mail’s Operations Performance Lead to raise the matter and was advised that mail deliveries to addresses served by Hailsham Delivery Office have continued to be affected due to high levels of sickness. However, Royal Mail has confirmed that additional resources, including senior management staff and additional recruits, have been deployed to Hailsham with Sunday deliveries also in place to rectify the situation. The Operations Performance Lead provided assurance that as of last week (22 January) there was no backlog of mail and service levels have recovered.
Nusrat Ghani said: “I recognise the impact that delays in postal deliveries are having on local residents, and it was disappointing to see the improvements made to the service before Christmas stall in the new year. Following up on my conversations with Royal Mail in December, I convened another meeting with Royal Mail’s Operations Performance Lead as a matter of urgency to push for Hailsham deliveries to be prioritised and protected. I welcome the additional resources and delivery days that have been put in place to resolve the situation and I was pleased to learn that earlier this month, all backlog of mail was cleared to restore consistent service. I understand that the delays are caused by high levels of staff sickness, but I stressed that the improvements made must be sustainable and Hailsham needs enough resources to cope with demand all year round.”
