Written question asked by Ben Chapman (Labour) on Friday, 15 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 19 January 2010. It was answered by Pat McFadden (Labour) on Monday, 25 January 2010 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Royal Mail: Snow and Ice

Question: (2) what discussions he has had with Royal Mail on the effects of severely adverse weather conditions on postal deliveries.

Answer: Department officials have been in contact with Royal Mail during the severe weather. I understand that the vast majority of motorways and major trunk roads linking the UK have remained open during the severe weather allowing Royal Mail's national networking to operate, but local deliveries and collections have been disrupted, especially in remote areas, where local roads and access have been affected by extreme weather conditions.Decisions relating to operational matters are the direct responsibility of the company and local assessments are made on whether services can operate safely under local conditions. Royal Mail has been keeping customers informed of disrupted services via its website:"www.royalmail.com"but due to the nature of the changing conditions, assessments are regularly made and it is not always possible to give customers advanced notice of whether local services will be operating as normal.The Government would like to thank postmen and women up and down the country for their efforts to deliver the mail during the severe weather.

Secondary information