§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many items of mail from his Department to the House it is estimated were not delivered by the external courier firm contracted to deliver it since 1 January; what is the company's name; and if he will discuss the firm's performance with other Government Departments. [135102]
§ Mr. MorleyAn employee of City Despatch Services Ltd., the external courier firm contracted by my Department to deliver mail to the House of Commons, was found to have failed to deliver a significant quantity of mail between May and August this year. This amounted to around 2,300 individual items, including just over 700 substantive letters to Members of the House. The undelivered mail, which was discovered at a private residence following a police investigation, also included acknowledgement letters and press notices, as well as a small number of Library deposits. The Department's contract with City Despatch Services Ltd. was terminated. The police have no reason to believe that there is any further undelivered mail which remains undiscovered, or that any other employee of City Despatch Services Ltd. is implicated. None of this mail had been opened or tampered with in any way.
I deeply regret this incident and the consequent effect on the service Members of the House will have received from MAFF during the last few months. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture wrote to the Speaker of the House on 22 September and subsequently to the 567W hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo), the hon. Member for South-East Cornwall (Mr. Breed) and the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry) to explain the circumstances and offer his apologies.
In addition, the Department has been discussing this unfortunate case with other Departments, and has reviewed the mail tracking system to ensure that this cannot occur again.
Officials in MAFF opened all the undelivered mail and those not requiring amendment were re-sent immediately with an apology and an explanation. The remainder were re-drafted as speedily as possible and almost all have now been re-sent.