Simon Thompson

Criticism In 2023, as Royal Mail's CEO, Thompson appeared twice before the UK parliament's business, energy and industrial strategy select committee (BEIS). The first BEIS cross-party committee in January 2023, chaired by MP Darren Jones, heard testimony from Thompson and also from Dave Ward, the General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union on issues related to Royal Mail workers' industrial action.

In January 2023, Mr Thompson provided a detailed response to the Select Committee meeting, covering all questions raised during the hearing.

Thompson appeared before the BEIS committee for a second time because he was recalled by MPs who felt he had not given "wholly correct" answers at his first appearance.

Investigations into data misuse at Royal Mail In December 2023, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) wrote to the BEIS committee following concerns raised about personal data use. Despite the hundreds of anecdotal reports of data misuse mentioned during the BEIS committee hearings, they concluded that there is insufficient evidence of misuse of personal information and stated they were satisfied that Royal Mail had identified and rely on a lawful basis of use.

Prioritisation of tracked parcels over letters and non-tracked items at Royal Mail As a result of public concerns raised to the BEIS committee, in January 2024, OFCOM published a report on Royal Mail's quality of service. They concluded that "in the evidence we assessed, we did not identify any suggestion that Royal Mail's senior management had directed the prioritization of parcels over letters outside of recognized contingency plans." However, a Sunday Times undercover investigation concluded that the tracked parcels were being prioritised by Royal Mail in breach of company policy. This investigation also lines up with claims made by postal workers to the BBC and hundreds of complaints made to the BEIS committee Chair, Darren Jones.