POL00295317
POL00295317
148 Old Street
2 London
Edward Leigh MP
House of Commons
LONDON Gur Ref AC-990
SW1A OAA
29 December 2009
Dear Mr Leigh
Thank you for your letter of 10 December addressed to Alan Cook, Managing Director, Post
Office Limited. Alan is currently away from the office and as Network Director I am pleased to
take the Opportunity to reply.
1am sorry that your constituent, Mrs Shirley Rayner of jas had cause to
write to you about the Horizon Computer system used in Post Office®, Glentham branch,
As you will know from your visit to the branch, Horizon is a computerised accounting system. It
has been very robust since its introduction ten years ago and currently operates in over 12,000
branches, processing up to 750 transactions a second at peak time. All new software releases
on Horizon are subject to rigorous testing prior to going live in order to assure the accuracy of
the accounting processes. Our ongoing monitoring and control Processes ensure that any issues
in a ‘live’ operation are quickly identified and resolved at no detriment to individual
subpostmasters. Thus it is important that any problems are reported immediately to the
Helpdesk, in order to allow us to identify the extent of a problem and action any remedial
process as soon as possible,
In the case of Post Office®, Glentham branch, our records do not show any calls made to the
Helpdesk to report problems with the Horizon system in the months leading up to Mrs Rayner
submitting her resignation in August 2008 and withdrawing the premises for use as a Post
Office? branch.
To date there has been just one case against Post Office Limited which actually progressed to a
court hearing in the civil courts where a subpostmaster blamed the Horizon system for being
-8-
www.postoffice.co.uk
Post Office Ltd is registered in England and Wates, Registered No. 2154540, Registered Office 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HO.
Post Office and the Post Office logo are registered trade marks of Post Office Lea.
POL-BSFF-0133367
POL00295317
POL00295317
In his judgement, His Honour Judge Richard Harvey QC stated:
“1am satisfied that the substantial unexplained deficiencies incurred in weeks 42 to 54
and in week 52 up to the close of business on 22nd March 2004 are real deficiencies...
the losses must have been caused by his own error or that of his assistants”.
In the second case in which proceedings were issued, the claimant subsequently withdrew his
claim following production of evidence and Post Office Limited successfully claimed its legal costs
incurred from the subpostmaster concerned,
In both of the cases referred to above, Post Office Limited defended the claim vigorously and
assistance was obtained from Fujitsu, who are the suppliers of the Horizon system, regarding the
dates and times that the discrepancies were reported in each case. Alt of these reports proved
that there was no problem with the Horizon system that would explain the discrepancies that
were reported at these times.
} am satisfied that there is no evidence to doubt the integrity of the Horizon system and that it is
robust and fit for purpose, I do hope that you are reassured but if you do have any further
questions then please let me know.
oupsimeegey
~ GRO
—
Network Director
Post Office Limited
POL-BSFF-0133367_0001