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J CIRCULATION: NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FOR AGENDA DISCUSSION PG NW 06 01
~~ GT/LW PC NW 06 01
29 September 2009
CIRCULATION: __ NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Dear Executive Officer
RE: LEE CASTLETON - HORIZON
Please see the email below from ex Subpostmaster, Lee Castleton, which has already
been forwarded to you. Both myself and my predecessor have in the past
investigated the issue and corresponded with Mr Castleton regarding his belief that
the system was not robust and failsafe. This issue has now been placed on the
agenda for discussion at our forthcoming Executive Council meeting.
Yours sincerely
GEORGE THOMSON
General Secreta
Encl.
‘National Federation of SubPostmasters « Evelyn House * 22 Windlesham Gardens + Shoreham-by-
General Secretary Gearge Thomson « Assistant General Secretary Marilyn Stoddart « email: admir{_
website: www.nfsp.org.uk * fo
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STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
FOR USE OF NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OFFICERS ONLY
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF SUBPOSTMASTERS
REPORT OF A
~I MEETING OF THE
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
held on
5-7 October 2009
4 at
STRATFORD VICTORIA HOTEL
STRATFORD UPON AVON
National Federation of SubPostmasters
9
))
(9)
POL were so confident that their policy was going to be very
successful that any subpostmaster requesting a quote for
their own insurance would receive £50 cash back (however
they would not get paid for selling to themselves). They
were planning to be very aggressive with their marketing and
believed the product would make serious inroads into the
market.
NC to find out how any information declared in an application
was disseminated (if at all) within POL.
There was some dissent regarding the exclusivity deal,
however subpostmasters could still buy their insurance from
whoever they chose and many who were using HL! (who had
also made an offer to the Federation) could continue to do
so.
There followed considerable and sometimes heated
discussion on the subject.
Copies of the policy document to be circulated to the
Executive Council.
NC to find out if the 4% and 2% were paid based on the
gross premium.
DAVID MILNER proposed “That the offer by Post Office
Limited to contribute £80,000 to the Federation’s income for
supporting Post Office Limited’s business insurance be
accepted.” The motion was seconded and won at vote.
Concerns were again expressed in relation to
subpostmasters FAD codes not being captured and therefore
not getting paid for policies they had sold.
Lee Castleton - Horizon
tH
Historic case. Lee Castleton had never been a member of
the Federation and had only attempted to join after he had
got into trouble and was therefore rejected.
General Secretary had received the documents relating to
Horizon security that was used by POL in court cases, but it
could not be shared with the Executive Council.
Lee Castleton had taken POL to court, his expert witness
was very flawed, hence the case was lost and the court
awarded full costs to POL of approx. £300,000.
Press had got involved over the past few weeks.
Clarified that the Federation had to be very careful. Our job
was to protect subpostmasters. It was important not to
create a situation where hares were sent running by
encouraging members to believe Horizon had faults.
If POL customers believed the system was error ridden they
would be reluctant to do business at a time when the
contracts were desperately needed by the network.
Over 37,000 subpostmasters and clerks had used the
system since it's implementation. Billions of transactions had
taken place. It was easy to blame Horizon when a shortage
occurred.
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Executive Council Meeting 5-7 October 2009
Page 13 of 27
The simple fact was that Lee Castleton did not have a case.
Both the current and the previous General Secretary had
made that clear to him on numerous occasions after
investigating the circumstances, however the case was yet
again doing the rounds of the Executive Council.
There followed considerable discussion on the subject.
Though a couple of Executive Officers had some minor
misgivings regarding Horizon, the vast majority were happy
that it was accurate.
Lee Castleton had wanted the Federation to back his court
action that would have run into six figures. Stressed again
he had never been a member and as such, it was requested
that Executive Officers did not respond to his
correspondence.
If there had been systematic problems with Horizon over
many years the Federation would have taken action asa
whole. All the cases investigated in depth so far had proven
the error was on the part of the subpostmaster or their staff.
The General Secretary gave an undertaking that in cases
where a member believed the problem was Horizon, he
would raise the case with POL at the highest level.
Executive Officers to notify such cases to Shoreham.
(h) Other Negotiating Committee Matters :
(i) AEI Programme
Some members would have received letter saying they
would be surveyed but were not guaranteed a kiosk.
Initially 750 kiosks to be rolled out. All Crown Offices and
W H Smith post office branches would have one. Remainder
to be distributed throughout the network.
If offices had DVLA check and send there was a good
chance they would be offered a kiosk but not a guarantee.
Also required a good spread geographically.
Kiosk had large footprint at 1.7m wide and required 1.3m of
floor space. Also required a Horizon terminal immediately
adjacent to it or in front of it. It had a 1.5m turning circle to
allow disabled access, which was proving to be a problem.
If the Passport Agency came on board there would be a
further roll out up to 2,200 kiosks and, as Crowns and WH
Smith already had theirs, the roll out would all be to post
* offices.
NC had approached POL with a few issues based on the
retail space taken up by the kiosk, the length of time for the
transaction, and made the point that the Proposed payment
should take those issues into account.
The NC believed volume would build with possible work to
be attracted from the Immigration Service and local councils.
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DY)
Executive Council Meeting 5-7 October 2009
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