17th March 2010
Mr Dave Bowen
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
By Email: [FOI #29309 email]
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[Royal Mail Group request email]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Mr Bowen
Re: Freedom of Information Request
I am writing in response to your request dated 19th February 2010. We have considered
your request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). You
requested the following information:
“Can you please provide the following information under the freedom of information act for
each month in the past 5 years for the SA99 postcode area of Swansea and in particular to
the DVLA.
1)
The amount of undelivered & lost mail actually found within the royal mails system
destined for the above postcode.
2)
The amount of alleged loss of mail intended for this postcode.
3)
The amount of complaints received by phone, letter or email regarding loss of mail
to this postcode area.
4)
Any known issues with postal delivery in this area.
5)
Amount of staff disciplined as a result of conduct in this area.
6)
Can you confirm the procedure for delivery of mail to the SA99 DVLA Centre.
7)
Any issues that may affect delivery to this address whatsoever.”
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 1 of 3
Cont…
To identify and retrieve all information within the scope of your request would take a
significant amount of time. We estimate that this would exceed the appropriate cost-limit
for dealing with requests which is set under section 12 of the Act.
The appropriate limit for Royal Mail Group is set at £450. This represents the estimated
cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether we hold the information, and
in locating, retrieving and extracting the information. In relation to parts 4 and 7 of your
request alone, a series of extensive searches would be required in order to identify and
retrieve any and al recorded information relevant to your request (i.e. relating to ‘delivery
issues’ in this area). For example Royal Mail holds records of all customer enquiries and
complaints which are recorded according to the address that items were posted to. Royal
Mail holds information related to service updates which are updated regularly, provided on
our website (
www.royalmail.com/serviceupdates), and used by Royal Mail Customer Services
to assist our customers. To search all such sources, in order to identify al recorded
information within the scope of your request, would take significantly more than 18 hours
to complete. Consequently, Royal Mail Group is not obliged by the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 to respond to this part of the request (see section 12(1) of the Act).
It would of course be possible to identify and retrieve some information within the
appropriate cost-limit if you were able to narrow the terms of your request. If you wish to
clarify part of your request or submit a new request for particular information then please
write to us again. For example, we do hold information on employees subject to disciplinary
action at the Delivery Office which covers this area. Information is only held concerning
current conduct penalties – penalties are removed from employee records after a period of
time depending upon the level of action taken. Disciplinary action could also be taken for
various reasons, some of which would have no bearing on the delivery of mail but would
concern breaches of Royal Mail’s conduct code. You may therefore wish to request the
number of current conduct penalties at Swansea Delivery Office.
As I have stated above, we do also hold records of complaints received by Royal Mail, you
may therefore wish to request the numbers of loss complaints recorded for the SA99
postcode within a narrower period of time. Please note that Royal Mail already publishes
numbers of complaints received for the SA postcode area. These figures can be found at
www.royalmailgroup.com and by following the link below:
ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rmg/07-08_Complaints_by_Postcode.pdf
Please note that any new request we receive from you wil need to be treated as a fresh
request and other exemptions from disclosure under the Act may apply to some
information.
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 2 of 3
Cont…
I am sorry that your request cannot be answered in its current form but hope that this
response is helpful. If for any reason you are not satisfied with this response however, you
do have the right to request a review. If you wish to do so please set out in writing your
grounds of appeal and send to the Head of Information Compliance, Royal Mail Group,
Company Secretary's Office, 100 Victoria Embankment, LONDON, EC4Y 0HQ. An internal
panel will then review the request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, and
you will be advised of the outcome.
If, having requested an internal review by Royal Mail, you are still not satisfied with our
response you also have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Daniel Tulp
Freedom of Information Case Officer
[Royal Mail Group request email]
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 3 of 3
