Thursday 12th July 2007
It has been announced that industrial action will take place involving those staff working in “Crown” Post Office branches. (This follows Royal Mail strikes on 12 and 13 July.) The dates and times of the planned action are:
How this affects IPS customers
All new passports are delivered to customers by SMS (Secure Mail Services). There will be no delay on this service.
Customers have the option to pay for the return of their supporting documents by secure delivery via SMS and are encouraged to do so. There will be no delay on this service.
Customers who have not paid for the secure delivery of their supporting documents may experience a delay in receipt as these are delivered using the Royal Mail 2nd Class Service.
Customers who have submitted their passport application via Royal Mail 1st or 2nd Class may experience a delay in the delivery to IPS and therefore must allow additional time for IPS to process the application.
Customers who need to urgently reply to correspondence from IPS should be advised to use Royal Mail Special Delivery or they can bring the response in to their nearest regional passport office for attachment to their application.
Applications submitted via Check & Send are delivered by Royal Mail Special Delivery. All attempts will be made by Royal Mail to maintain this service, however they may still experience a delay in the delivery to IPS and therefore must allow additional time for IPS to process the application.
The “Crown” offices account for about 450 Post Office branches or 20% of the network that provide the Check & Send service. All attempts will be made by Post Office Ltd to maintain this service, however they may still experience a delay in the delivery to IPS and therefore must allow additional time for IPS to process the application.
Customers have been reminded not to book any travel arrangements until they receive their passports.
IPS Position
IPS has been monitoring the situation with regard to the services provided by Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd and we have updated our contingency plans in preparation for any action. We also have assurances of the service we will receive from Royal Mail and the minimal affect this will have on our customers or processes. IPS will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep customers aware of any developments.
