Committee publication · Correspondence · 15 April 2026
Letter from Royal Mail relating to the Committee's letter of 27 March following the evidence session on Royal Mail, 8 April 2026
From: Business and Trade Committee
Inquiry: Royal Mail
Summary
Royal Mail's CEO responds to the Business and Trade Committee's questions following an 8 April 2026 evidence session. The letter confirms Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union reached agreement on Universal Service reform principles on 2 April 2026, with finalisation expected imminently. Royal Mail commits to publishing an improvement plan with quarterly targets and investing £500 million in frontline resources over five years. The company addresses concerns about service standards (92.1% of letters on-time), contingency prioritisation protocols, NHS letter delays (23,800 complaints in 2025/26), and employment status reform to compete fairly with gig-economy competitors.
Key findings
- Royal Mail and CWU reached agreement on key principles of Universal Service reform on 2 April 2026, aiming to finalise details imminently; improvement plan with quarterly targets to be published 'very soon'
- Company will invest £500 million of reform savings into frontline postie resources over five years; estimates contingency prioritisation guidance applied to less than 10% of addresses daily where mail exists
- 23,800 complaints received in 2025/26 regarding delayed or undelivered NHS letters; over 350 NHS providers registered for barcode system introduced July 2025, with 20.8 million barcoded items handled December–February
- Current vacancy rate of approximately 4,700 permanent postmen and women in recruitment pipeline (March 2026); sickness absence rate 5.9% for 2025/26 (down from 6.8% in 2023/24); overall attrition rate 17%, compared to 35–50% in delivery driver market
- Royal Mail seeking government legislation presuming employment status for final-mile parcel delivery drivers and statutory minimum standards to level playing field with gig-economy competitors; cites Belgian, French, German, and Dutch precedents
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail Group Ltd, Liam Byrne MP, Business and Trade Select Committee, Communication Workers Union (CWU), Unite CMA, Dave Ward, Martin Walsh, Ofcom
Notable line
“Now that we have agreed the key principles with the CWU and are aiming to finalise the agreement in the coming days, I hope to be able to provide the plan to the Committee in the very near future.”
Key Quotes
“… while quality of service is improving and 92.1% of all letters arrive on time, too many customers are still receiving letters late and this is not acceptable.”
“Royal Mail and the CWU reached an agreement on the key principles on both the deployment of Universal Service reform and the equalisation of new entrants' terms and conditions on 2nd April.”
“… we will ensure that quality of service for our customers improves by investing £500 million of the savings reform generates back into frontline postie resource over the next five years.”
“In 2025/26, we received around 23,800 complaints relating to delayed or undelivered NHS letters. I recognise this is not good enough and we owe it to our customers to provide a more reliable service.”
“… we want to see the Government legislate for a presumption of employment status for final mile parcel delivery drivers – this would shift the burden of proof to employers, making it more difficult for competitors to misclassify workers as self-employed.”
“Our sickness rate was around 5.9% in 2025/26. Around 80% of this is long-term sickness, given the nature of the work and the fact that we have an aging workforce.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗