Jim Shannon

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) for setting the scene on a subject that is incredibly important to us all. As well as both being Northern Ireland MPs, we share a frustration with the Royal Mail. I cannot do technology—that is just a fact of life, as I am very old-school—but I write letters regularly. Nothing impresses, helps or encourages a constituent as much as a hand-written letter sent to their house in a yellow envelope from the House of Commons. They appreciate that, which is why I do it. The business of the rest of my office is done by email. Day after day, my office is inundated with phone calls and emails from people who go for weeks without seeing a postal delivery worker. Letters are piling up in sorting depots, with vital documents vanishing into a black hole. The public have completely lost faith in a service on which they have relied for generations. I want to be entirely clear about where the blame lies. It does not lie with the hard-working, dedicated local postmen and postwomen who are working themselves to the bone. They work long hours and walk miles under immense pressure, bearing the brunt of public anger on the doorsteps. It is not their fault; they are being completely let down by senior management, a failed operating model and a chronic lack of investment. Since I was a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I have always visited the Royal Mail depot in Newtownards at Christmas time. Staff retention is incredibly important. I met a guy just before Christmas who had worked for the Royal Mail for 20 years. I asked him how he was getting on, and he said, “Jim, I’m leaving next week.” I asked where he was going, and he was going up the road to Kiltonga, for better wages at Lakeland Dairies. Royal Mail has to address staff retention by ensuring the right pay. When I speak to local staff in Strangford, they consistently tell me that they believe passionately in their public duty but that they are being asked to fight a losing battle with one hand tied behind their back. Without targeted funding to build or upgrade a dedicated sorting office in our area, our local posties will continue to drown under the backlog. Minister, what discussions have taken place with the owners of Royal Mail about its antiquated sorting centres and technology? What can be done to ensure that the guys who work there are able to see modern, suitable workplaces? This is not just about missing birthday cards and delayed bank statements; it is about people not getting hospital appointments. My constituents are missing long-awaited cancer screenings, urgent surgical consultations and vital diagnostic scans. If they have been on a waiting list for six months, that could mean they wait for two years—it just does not work. This is a timely point to discuss what is important. I have engaged with the former Northern Ireland Health Minister to ensure the use of barcoded envelopes for urgent medical mail, which has helped us in Northern Ireland, but it does not go the whole way. Royal Mail cannot keep cutting corners, reducing delivery days and abandoning its universal service obligation while senior executives line their pockets. We need accountability for a service that is currently failing the sick, the vulnerable and the elderly.