Labour MP Kate Green has provided an update to Trafford residents after complaints of huge post delays which saw some people miss important letters and hospital appointments.
It was reported last week how residents in Old Trafford and Stretford had been left waiting 'more than three weeks' for Christmas post - with concerns raised as early as last November.
Post delivered to the area is processed via the Manchester South West Delivery Office on Norton Street in Stretford, which is thought to have faced high levels of staff shortages.
Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, claimed she had contacted Royal Mail senior management in November about the issue and was told it was down to ‘high sickness and staff vacancy levels’.
The MP has since met with Royal Mail management to discuss the concerns and provided an update to residents in a social media post on Tuesday afternoon (January 11).
Ms Green wrote: “Over the past few weeks, I have had many constituents contact me about the lack of postal deliveries.
“Neighbouring MPs in Manchester and Salford have also been contacted by their constituents, and today we met Royal Mail managers to hear what they’re doing to resolve the problems.
“None of us were surprised to hear that absence rates are exceptionally high at the moment, due to Covid and the rapid spread of the omicron variant.”
According to the MP, absence rates at the Norton Street delivery office were at 22 per cent in the last week.
There has also been difficulty in recruiting additional temporary staff.
She added: “Shortly before Christmas, the office was handling significant additional volumes as, alongside the Christmas mail, there was a surge in the delivery of antiviral test kits and lateral flow tests as a result of government ramping up testing.
“However, the problems we have experienced locally began some weeks ago, so can't all be attributed to omicron.
“Royal Mail told us absence rates are now beginning to come down. They have redeployed some staff from other offices, and recruited additional temporary staff for the Norton Street office.
“However, competition in the labour market has meant they haven't been able to recruit as many temporary staff as they'd like (they wanted to recruit 13 additional temporary staff, but so far have managed to find only 6).”
Ms Green said she has asked for ‘very early warnings’ of future changes and any potential impact it could have on local deliveries.
She also expressed an intention of visiting the delivery office in the near future.
The message continued: “We were told that in normal times, Royal Mail aim to clear every item of post from the office every day, but during this period of additional pressures, they've concentrated on getting parcels out as they take up so much space in the office.
“We pointed out that this had meant urgent letters, such as hospital appointments, were being missed.
“We were also concerned to hear that there will be revisions to the configuration of the posties' 'walks' soon, to reflect the change in the proportion of parcels and letters they're handling. 18 months ago the split was 2:1 letters to parcels – that has now switched round, with parcel numbers having increased by 35% and letter volumes declined by 25%.
“MPs asked for very early warning of any future changes and potential impact on our local deliveries.
“I'm arranging to visit the delivery office to see the situation for myself, and to chat to the posties.
“In the meantime, please do let me know if you continue to experience problems with delivery of your mail, so that I can judge whether the situation is improving as a result of the action Royal Mail is taking.”
Following the initial concerns, Royal Mail said it was 'providing targeted support' to local offices affected by delays.
A Royal Mail spokesperson added: "Our staff are continuing to work incredibly hard, as they have done throughout the pandemic, and we are thankful for all of their efforts and determination.”
