Regulator Postcomm said Royal Mail was guilty of "serious breaches" of its licence in relation to mail security measures and staff vetting. Postcomm launched an investigation in 2004 after media reports claimed that some staff were tampering with mail.

Royal Mail has admitted that more than 14 million letters and parcels were lost, stolen, damaged or tampered with last year. However, it insists that its service is one of the safest in the world. In its investigation, Postcomm found that many Royal Mail agency staff were not properly vetted before being employed and that this had compromised the safety of deliveries.

It also concluded that co-ordination of measures to prevent theft and damage were "ineffective" and that Royal Mail had failed to adequately monitor the effectiveness of its own procedures. "Customers are entitled to expect that when they post mail it will reach its destination," said Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm's chairman. "A Postcomm review uncovered serious shortcomings in Royal Mail's application of its procedures for properly protecting the mail." 'Unreasonable'

Postcomm said Royal Mail had made significant efforts to tackle the problem over the past nine months. However, it said the proposed fine reflected the "extent and seriousness" of the identified shortcomings, most of which could be put down to "management failings".

The amount of lost mail has reportedly been reduced over the years, while stolen mail accounted for just 0.001% of the 22 billion items handled every year. It also stressed that the money spent on paying the fine could be better used to improve customer service.

Under legislation passed in 2000, Postcomm has the right to fine Royal Mail up to 10% of its annual turnover if it is found to have breached its licence obligations. Royal Mail was fined £7.5m in 2003 after it was found to have missed performance standards for delivering business mail.

The fact remains that last year over 16 million letters were lost, damaged or stolen last year, which means 99.9% of all post arrives safely. An estimated 200,000 items were stolen by Royal Mail Staff, and last year alone 394 staff were caught and prosecuted for theft. That figure is more than one worker a day being caught stealing, which tops any other industry in this country!

Mark Steele

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