Ofcom letting Royal Mail failures continue

Ofcom’s decision to allow Royal Mail to scrap Saturday second-class deliveries and cut back services throughout the week is a deeply disappointing move that risks making an already unacceptable situation even worse for residents across Stockport.

In recent months, my office has been inundated with emails and calls from people across the Cheadle constituency — in Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, Heald Green, Norbury and Woodsmoor — all raising the same concerns: delayed hospital letters, missing bills, and parcels arriving weeks late. These are not isolated incidents. In some streets, entire communities have gone days without receiving any post at all.

This decline in service began long before Ofcom’s announcement. Local posties continue to do an incredible job under difficult circumstances, but they are being badly let down by Royal Mail’s senior management, who appear more focused on profit margins and parcels than maintaining a vital public service.

Late last year, I visited both sorting offices in the constituency — in Cheadle and Bramhall — to speak directly with frontline staff and local managers. The message was clear: postal workers are doing their best, but they are under huge pressure due to chronic understaffing and unrealistic workloads. Those concerns need addressing — not ignored.

Now, instead of demanding urgent improvements, Ofcom has effectively given Royal Mail a free pass to downgrade its universal service obligations. These changes will see second-class letters delivered on fewer days — and not at all on Saturdays — just as more and more people are already being failed by the system.

Alongside my Liberal Democrat colleague Lisa Smart MP in Hazel Grove, I’m speaking out against this reckless decision:

“People across Stockport are already fed up with missed letters, delayed bills, and waiting days for hospital appointment letters to arrive. Instead of demanding better, Ofcom has given Royal Mail the green light to make the situation worse.

“It’s a slap in the face to the brilliant local posties who work incredibly hard under difficult circumstances. The problem isn’t them – it’s the leadership and lack of accountability at the top. Royal Mail is letting people down, and Ofcom’s job is to fix that, not excuse it.”

“I’ll keep speaking up for local residents until we get the service they deserve – not this postcode lottery of delays and cutbacks.”

We need a regulator that stands up for the public, not one that shrugs its shoulders while services decline. I’ll keep pushing for answers and improvements.

I will continue to stand up for local people and fight these changes at every opportunity. Cheadle deserves better than this.