§ Dr. VisTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the figures for theft of post entrusted to the Royal Mail in each of the last five years; what steps are being taken to prevent such theft; how many prosecutions there have been in each year; and if he will list the figures for the Finchley and Golders Green constituency. [6293]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyI understand from the Post Office that Royal Mail handles in excess of 17.5 billion items of mail each year of which only a tiny fraction is claimed not to have been delivered. That tiny fraction includes mail which has been delivered but subsequently stolen, mail which has been delivered but fraudulently claimed not to have been, misdelivered mail and incorrectly addressed mail delivered as addressed.
Theft of mail is a criminal offence which Royal Mail takes very seriously. For security reasons, it would not be appropriate to disclose the active measures which Royal Mail undertakes, and continually reviews, in order to prevent the theft of mail.
Figures for the number of mail items stolen and the number of prosecutions is a commercial matter for Royal Mail, This is not information which other mail companies would disclose.