Spotlight on postal delivery woes having positive impact on mail performance, hopes Highland MP
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A fall in the number of complaints about late Royal Mail deliveries over the busy festive season has been hailed by the Highland MP behind calls for improvements at the postal firm.
Drew Hendry, who represents Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, has long campaigned for urgent improvements in Royal Mail's Highland postal service.
The calls came after a number of constituents approached him over concerns their mail was sometimes many days late arriving.
In some cases, people said they were left without vital new bank cards, and some even missed important medical appointments because the letter informing them of the date did not arrive until after it had already passed.
A shocked Mr Hendry hit out at the Royal Mail at that time, arguing these delays were causing serious disruption to some of his constituents and, in the case of missed medical appointments, was having a knock-on effect on any already under-pressure NHS.
He launched an online survey to try to gauge the scale of the problem, and then took those complaints to Royal Mail bosses to try to spark improvements.
And he hopes the spotlight he shone on Royal Mail's problems in the region has begun to bear fruit, after he noticed a fall in the number of complaints about Royal Mail from his constituents.
He had been concerned that the busy festive season, when increased letter and parcel delivery numbers often put added pressure on the postal system, would lead to a flood of fresh complaints.
But, after raising concerns over a possible worsening of the service in the build-up to Christmas, Mr Hendry says he was pleased to see there was "minimal" disruption – and he plans to continue monitoring the situation to ensure any improvements are not lost.
"I hope the focus that we put on the Royal Mail backlogs and delayed deliveries has ensured that there was minimal disruption during the festive season," said Mr Hendry.
"Certainly, I have not had the level of complaints that were raised with us before we helped to highlight the issue, and that, in itself, is a pleasing outcome.
"We'll continue to work positively with both the company and staff to ensure that the service that is provided is what Highland communities want and expect from Royal Mail."
