Constituents and businesses continue to be in touch with concerns about severe delays to postal delivery locally.
Residents are missing NHS and Hospital appointments, some are missing deadlines to pay fines and submit critical documents, and many are being inundated with two to three weeks' worth of post in one day.
Earlier this month, I visited Worthing's sorting office to meet and discuss with Royal Mail representatives the concerns shared by local residents and businesses, the challenges being faced by Royal Mail, and what is being done to address ongoing issues.
Ultimately, the issue lies with a shortage of staff as a result of difficulty with retention and recruitment of workers.
There have been improvements with recent hires which will relieve some of the workload and reduce some waiting times.
With the increasing price of stamps, constituents are right to expect post to be sent and delivered on time.
We recognise that current pressures and limitations cannot be fixed immediately, as many would have hoped. In speaking with the senior team at Worthing Sorting Office, I am reassured that work is being done to address these problems and return to the regular delivery we all desire.
We want to have confidence when posting time-sensitive or highly personal mail that it will arrive safely and in good time. We want to trust deliveries to be reliable and regular.
We know that our hardworking local teams are doing everything they can, with limited resources, to maintain regular service and to improve delivery times.
We will do all that is possible to support our teams as they go into their busiest time of year.
