COLUMN BY Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie 

People across the Stroud district are telling me they continue to receive poor service from Royal Mail with patchy service or delayed deliveries.

I have written to and met with the top team at the company and received a host of assurances that things will improve. There are responsive and have explained the very real problems for Royal Mail to contend with too, including the prolonged strike action. 

However, when people still do not receive post for days at a time and miss important documents or appointments, I cannot let up and they know that. 

Now we are in the Christmas period things are very likely to deteriorate further as we all post cards. I am sure many read in the media allegations that Royal Mail is prioritising delivering lucrative parcels over letters.

Royal Mail has a legal obligation to deliver letters six days a week. This is not being met consistently as far as I can see. 

I tried to organise a visit to our Salmon Springs sorting office to discuss some of these issues and it had been agreed that a small group of parish council chairs could come with me to hear what was going on as their parishioners are reporting issues.

Unfortunately, Royal Mail then said I could only bring a couple of people so I’ve asked to rearrange when I can have a proper meeting with them. 

 It is a busy time of year but it is important that others get to speak to the top team and I do not want photos with them until that happens, even though I respect what all of our posties are doing and want to thank them. 

Royal Mail need to constantly hear that they play a really important role in our lives and when post fails to arrive, it can have a range of serious consequences. To be fair, I think we can learn more about the recent issues with staffing, plus what they are doing to fix problems and the realities of Royal Mail staying viable while competing with other delivery companies. 

I will keep you updated when the meeting finally happens and there should be no change to national six day responsibilities at this time. 

May I take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas to you and your family too. 

The Royal Mail has been approached for comment