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FOI/EIR 25/26-545-Inbound & Outbound Mail Handling
Full breakdown of hybrid postal system used
Requested 10 February 2026
1. Hybrid Mail
1. Does the organisation use a Hybrid Mail service to send letters?
2. Which departments use this service?
3. Who is the supplier of the Hybrid Mail service?
4. What is the annual spend on this service?
5. What is the contract end date and/or renewal date?
6. Who is the procurement lead responsible for this contract?
7. Please provide the name or role of the relevant departmental contact for this service.
8. What is the annual volume of letters sent through the Hybrid Mail service?
9. What Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place for this service?
10. Is the Hybrid Mail solution integrated with any internal systems (e.g., ERP, CRM, or document management platforms)?
11. Are there any plans to review, expand, or retender the Hybrid Mail service?
2. Outbound Mail (In-House Processing)
1. Does the organisation use franking machines and/or folding/inserting machines for outgoing post?
2. Which departments use these in-house services?
3. Who supplies or maintains this equipment/service?
4. What is the annual spend associated with this equipment/service?
5. What is the contract end date and/or renewal date?
6. Who is the procurement lead responsible for this contract?
7. Please provide the name or role of the relevant departmental contact for this service.
8. What is the annual volume of letters processed in-house?
9. What equipment models are currently in use?
10. Are any in-house mail processes automated or digitised?
11. Are there any plans to migrate in-house mail processes to a Hybrid Mail solution?
3. Inbound Mail and Scanning
1. What is the annual volume of inbound mail, broken down into: a) Letters b) Parcels
2. Does the organisation use X-ray equipment to scan for suspect items?
3. Is inbound mail opened centrally by the post room or by individual departments?
4. Do you scan/digitise physical mail once opened
5. What system/software do you use to scan
6. Do you use off-site storage for physical documents?
7. Who is the procurement lead responsible for off-site storage and/or mail digitisation?
8. What is the contract end date and/or renewal date for off-site storage?
9. Please provide the name or role of the relevant departmental contact for this service.
10. What is the current volume of boxes or files held in off-site storage?
11. Which supplier(s) provide inbound mail scanning or off-site storage services?
12. Do you use a document management system for storing digitised mail?
13. What is the average turnaround time for scanning and distributing digitised mail?
4. Accounts Payable
1. On average, how much staff time is spent manually entering vendor invoice data into your ERP/finance system?
2. How much time is spent manually tracking invoice approvals?
3. What processes are in place to prevent or detect fraudulent or duplicate invoices?
4. How are Accounts Payable documents and audit history stored and retrieved (e.g., ERP, DMS, shared drives)?
5. How many invoices does the organisation receive per month?
6. How many employees does the organisation have?
7. What ERP or finance system is currently used?
8. Do you use any invoice automation, OCR, or AP workflow solutions?
9. What percentage of invoices are received electronically versus on paper?
10. Do you operate a purchase order (PO) and/or non-PO invoice process?
5. Accounts Receivable
1. How much staff time is spent manually chasing customers for payment of invoices?
2. What are the main challenges faced in reducing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and managing bad debt?
3. How accessible is accurate, up-to-date reporting for Accounts Receivable?
4. How far into the future can the organisation accurately forecast its cash-flow?
5. How many invoices or bills are sent per month?
6. How many employees does the organisation have?
7. What ERP or finance system is currently used?
8. Do you use any automated AR or credit-control tools?
9. What is the organisation’s current average DSO?
6. General Digital Transformation and Procurement
1. Who is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s digital transformation strategy?
2. Who holds the position of Head of Procurement?
3. Please provide relevant contact details or departmental information for these roles.
4. Does the organisation have a published digital strategy and, if so, when was it last reviewed?
5. Are there any upcoming projects relating to automation, digitisation, or transformation of mail and document processes?
6. Do you have a dedicated print and postroom
7. Do you have parking services department and PCN dpt
8. Who is the lead for parking services inbound and outbound mail communications and contracts
Responded 10 March 2026
1. Hybrid Mail
1. No
2. N/A
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
6. N/A
7. N/A
8. N/A
9. N/A
10. N/A
11. No
2. Outbound Mail (In-House Processing)
1. Yes
2. All departments.
3. Quadient Ltd.
4. Maintenance service costs in 2024/25 £1096.05
5. Mail equipment was purchased outright.
6. Reprographics Manager
7. Marta Lotysz-Veiga, Reprographics Manager.
8. 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 50,043 items
9. IX-5 Franker and DS-85 Folder Inserter.
10. No
11. No
3. Inbound Mail and Scanning
1. a) 30,805 items b) 1,112 items
2. Yes
3. Centrally by the Reprographics department.
4. Only for matters related to Planning and Building Control.
5. Multifunctional devices.
6. No
7. Off-site storage – n/a, Mail Digitalisation - Reprographics Manager
8. n/a
9. n/a
10. n/a
11. n/a
12. Yes
13. This is not recorded, therefore this information is not held.
4. Accounts Payable
1. This is not recorded, therefore this information is not held.
2. < 1 hr per week
3. The system will not allow the same invoice number on the same supplier twice. We also Reconcile statements and Batch check for each invoice by a second person.
4. The documents are attached to the transactions on the system.
5. Approx 300
6. Approx 200
7. Agresso
8. No OCR, we do use a workflow for authorisation of invoices
9. 99%
10. PO Process
5. Accounts Receivable
1. This is not recorded; therefore, this information is not held.
2. The Freedom of Information Act gives you a legal right of access any recorded information held by a public authority. We do not have to provide opinions or explanations, generate answers to questions, or create or obtain information we do not hold.
3. Very accessible
4. The Council prepares cash-flow forecasts as part of its treasury management and financial planning processes. Short-term cash flow is monitored regularly and can typically be forecast with a reasonable degree of accuracy for a period of up to three months, based on known income streams, expenditure commitments, and investment maturities.
5. Approx 500
6. Approx 200
7. Agresso
8. No
9. 45-50 days
6. General Digital Transformation and Procurement
1. n/a
2. n/a
3. n/a
4. No
5. No
6. Yes
7. Yes
8. n/a