‘E-petitions’ is an easy way to influence government policy in the UK. Anyone can create an e-petition about anything that the government is responsible for and if it gets at least 100,000 signatures, it will be eligible for debate in the House of Commons.
A petition to follow the European Standard (EN 13724) regarding mailbox height was submitted by David Campbell of Royal Mail in November 2009. But it only got 609 signatures.
“(…) The company is aware that low level letter-boxes have the potential to be a hazard for their postmen and women and it advises its people to set their delivery pouch down on the ground before bending to deliver mail to these types of apertures, in order to minimise any risk of injury. However, Royal mail has advised us that it is not always possible to establish if low level letter-boxes are definitely the cause of a particular injury and it can be difficult to quantify how big of an issue this is, as it can depend on individual areas and delivery rounds nationwide and how any given injury or complaint is recorded.
If the company or others have sufficient evidence to show that there is a significant issue here that requires a national legislative solution (…), then they should approach the relevant national authorities to set out the case for change. (…)
Royal Mail does already seek to influence the design of new developments. For example, when the company is made aware of such developments at a local level, they speak to developers and/or local authorities when the opportunity arises, to highlight any concerns they may have about any design aspects of the development,” was the Government response to the petition regarding post box height.
