Royal Mail told it cannot keep blaming Covid for late deliveries as key targets for first and second class post missed
Royal Mail has been told it cannot continue to blame Covid for late deliveries after it missed key targets last year because of the pandemic.
Regulator Ofcom ended a probe into Royal Mail's performance between April 2021 and March 2022 by saying it failed to hit some of its annual delivery targets.
Just 82 per cent of first class mail was delivered within one working day, below a target of 93 per cent, while 95.6 per cent of second class post was deliver ed within three working days, against a target of 98.5 per cent.
Ofcom said 94.29 per cent of delivery routes were completed each day a delivery was required – against the target of 99.9 per cent.
The regulator said it accepts that, for much of 2021-22, Covid continued to have a" significant, pervasive and unprecedented" impact on Royal Mail's operations.
It said Royal Mail may have met its targets if not for Covid so decided against finding it in breach of its regulatory obligations for 2021-22.
"But we do not expect covid -19 to have a continuing, significant impact on the company's service levels," it warned.
"Social distancing measures are no longer in place, absence levels are likely to be much less unpredictable and parcel volumes have largely returned to pre-pandemic trends.
"We are concerned by the fact that Royal Mail's performance in the early part of 2022-23 fell well short of where it should be.
"We believe the company has had plenty of time to learn lessons from the pandemic and we are unlikely to consider the factors outlined above as exceptional and beyond its control in future."
Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's group director for networks and communications, said: "Looking back at last year, Covid-19 was clearly still having a significant impact on Royal Mail' s operations. however, the company' s had plenty of time to learn lessons from the pandemic and cannot continue to use it as an excuse.
"We're concerned by Royal Mail's performance so far this year, which is falling well short of where it should be."
Since the pandemic, Royal Mail has been embroiled in a row with the Communication Workers Union over pay, jobs and conditions which has led to a series of strikes, with more walk outs planned in the run-up to Christmas.