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ANU LETTER TO BRANCHES
The communications union W ecwuNews Wf The Communications Union www.cwa.org
No. 719/2019
23°¢ December 2019
Dear Colleagues
POST OFFICE: HORIZON TRIAL - JUDGEMENT FINDS IN FAVOUR OF
CLAIMANTS
Further to LTB 703/19 dated 11° December. A week has now elapsed since Justice
Fraser handed down a further judgement following the second trial known as the
“Horizon” trial and once again the Judge found in favour of the claimants. In the
judgement, Justice Fraser said the legacy Horizon IT system was “not remotely
robust" and that “there was a significant and material risk of inaccuracy in
branch accounts as a result of bugs, errors and defects in the Horizon
System”.
The Judge also noted the following:
“The approach by the Post Office to the evidence of someone such as Mr Latif
demonstrates a simple institutional obstinacy or refusal to consider any possible
alternatives to their view of Horizon, which was maintained regardless of the
weight of factual evidence to the contrary. That approach by the Post Office was
continued, even though now there is also considerable expert evidence to the
contrary as well (and much of it agreed expert evidence on the existence of
numerous bugs).
This approach by the Post Office has amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and
denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses
called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the
21% century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.” [the bold is
my emphasis]
As a consequence of this latest development in this long running saga, there has been
considerable media attention on the Post Office and in particular on the management
style adopted by Paula Vennells the former CEO who was in post from 2007 as the
Network Director and then from 2012 until earlier this year as the CEO.
The Sunday Times yesterday featured in its main paper and in the business section
major articles on the Horizon situation and in doing so focused their attentions on how
the Post Office has dealt with this matter in recent years. The main article is
headlined "Post Office’s computer glitch destroyed shopkeepers’ lives”.
CWU 150 The Broadway, Wimbled
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Generol Secretary: Dave Ward
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The second article headed “Curate behind the Post Office witch-hunt” can be
accessed via the following link:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/curate-behind-the-post-office-witch-hunt-
6f8pdpprk?shareToken=21972ebb8f0cbba980a8fb2cb0d5fi4c
Additionally, the Daily Mail has today run a feature article on page 8 entitled “Post
Office boss who still won't deliver an apology...” The link is as follows:
https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-7819763/Former-Post-Office-boss-
wont-say-sorry-postmasters-wrongly-jailed-glitch.html
What is irrefutable is that Paula Vennells obstinately and consistently argued that the
Horizon system was fit for purpose and as such all claims by Postmasters for justice
were dismissed by the Post Office. This position was demonstrated at a 2015 BIS
Select Committee where Paula Vennells gave evidence and robustly supported the
Horizon system.
Also, the aggressive defence at all the court cases during 2018 and 2019 including the
various appeals and the attempt to recuse the judge are predicated on the basis that
the Post Office vigorously rejected the claimant’s arguments that Horizon was flawed.
It is also true to say the Post Office has only admitted its failings after spending many
millions of tax-payers’ money in unsuccessfully attempting to defend itself.
Branches will also be aware that earlier this month, an out of court settlement was
reached between the Justice for SubPostmasters Alliance and the Post Office in regard
to the Group Litigation brought by 557 Postmasters in relation to the flaws in the
Horizon computer system. The total amount the Post Office has agreed to pay in
compensation is £57.75m.
As reported in LTB 703/19 dated 11% December the Post Office gave an apology of
sorts. However, this doesn’t go far enough after so many years of what can only be
described as a travesty of justice against so many innocent Postmasters that were
simply trying to serve their communities. The Post Office has also issued a further
communication (attached) following its defeat in the second trial and their comments
in this regard are underwhelming. Incredibly, the Chief Executive fails to
acknowledge that the Judge’s decision went against the Post Office.
The latest decision of the Judge quickly followed the out of court settlement which has
understandably led to a significant amount of media coverage. This includes an
interview on BBC news with the journalist Nick Wallis who has been following the case
extensively including attending all court hearings:
https: //twitter.com/rebeccajonesbbc/status/1206652545768161282 ?fbclid=IwAR3qfC
8bcZrGw-6Y7hZOCFOutVtNdJ29fGov-FiSA3HIxwyJOUHWzrBOySw
In addition, below are links to several press & media articles on this matter.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business- 50806745
https://www.postofficetrial.com/
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/post-office-attacked-and-disparaged-sub-
postmasters-judge-finds/5102542.article
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https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252475611/Subpostmasters-proved-right-
on-IT-system-failures-as-calls-for-full-public-inquiry-mount
https ://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Computer-Weekly-Editors-Blog/The-Horizon-
scandal-is-over-but-the-fight-continues-an-inquiry-into-the-Post-Office-is-essential
https://www.theregister.co.uk/AMP/2019/12/18/post_office_trial_fujitsu_horizon_jud
gment/?fbclid=IwAROfLeIAdXNq4tWey7G0670MiwtOSIHXcPmdByi2up5ZxyF-
pGNqCS_jcyk
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Justice Fraser now considers this case to be closed and therefore the third and fourth
trials scheduled for next year will not go ahead. However there are currently about
35 cases going through the Criminal Cases Review Commission - the CCRC has the
power to refer the cases of prosecuted Postmasters back to the appeal courts. A
Computer Weekly article specifically on the review by the CCRC can be accessed by
using the following link:
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252475773/Criminal-Courts-Review-
Commission-to-review-Horizon-judgment-swiftly
Involvement of the Director of Public Prosecutions
In addition, Justice Fraser said “Based on the knowledge that I have gained, I
have very grave concerns regarding veracity of evidence given by Fujitsu
employees to other courts in previous proceedings about the known
existence of bugs, errors and defects in the Horizon system". As a consequence
he will be supplying a dossier to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further
investigation. Furthermore, a number of Postmasters were given permission to
pursue the Post Office on charges of malicious prosecution.
Call for a Public Inquiry / Parliamentary Scrutiny
Computer Weekly contacted BEIS for a comment on the government’s plans for those
Postmasters who had been wronged. A BEIS Spokesperson responded as follows:
“We welcome the announcement that a resolution has been reached between
the parties to settle this long-running litigation and the steps they have taken
through the mediation talks.
“We stand by to support the organisation as it looks forward to moving ahead
and shaping a modern and dynamic Post Office.”
Clearly this is not good enough and in view of the seriousness of this matter, the
Union is now calling for a public inquiry into the whole Horizon debacle. In this
regard, we will be writing to the Minister for Postal Affairs to outline our grave
concerns in relation to the appalling treatment of Postmasters by Post Office
management and will call for a comprehensive investigation in the form of a public
inquiry.
This inquiry should also investigate the actions of the National Federation of
SubPostmasters (NFSP) who have done absolutely nothing to support their members
in relation to the outrageous treatment they have suffered due to the Horizon system
which has proven to be not fit for purpose. Indeed, during a previous BIS Select
Committee Inquiry in February 2015, George Thomson, former General Secretary of
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the NFSP stated he believed the Horizon system was “fantastically robust”. Mr
Thomson noted that “Systemically, it is very strong. However, there are one or two
issues where money went missing and postmasters have felt that it had to be Horizon,
while in a lot of cases it could have been errors or, in fact, members of staff
misappropriating money”.
The NFSP’s cosy relationship with the Post Office was highlighted in Judge Fraser’s
ruling in the first trial - the “Common Issues” trail on 15‘ March 2019 when he
stated:
“It is obvious, in my judgment, that the NFSP is not remotely independent of the
Post Office, nor does it appear to put its members’ interests above its own
separate commercial interests.”
“The Post Office effectively controls the NFSP”.
Furthermore, in a statement following the latest ruling, the NFSP is seemingly trying
to re-write history by repositioning themselves as follows:
“By implication of this verdict, PO has misled the NFSP for years about the
reliability of the Horizon system.
As outlined by Justice Fraser, the NFSP raised concerns to PO about problems
our members have experienced with the system; repeatedly we were told that
the system was robust, and that user error is the primary cause of problems.
The fact that Justice Fraser considers the current version of Horizon to be robust
is welcome news - this will be a relief to serving subpostmasters. However,
government must also ensure that, going forwards, the status of Horizon is
monitored and reported on transparently. It is vital that every subpostmaster
should feel confident that the investment they have made in their post office
business is not reliant on a flawed system. This will engender trust in the system
and PO.
Above all, PO must change the way it deals with the subpostmaster network. The
NFSP has long argued that subpostmasters must not be treated as ‘guilty until
proven innocent’ in the case of a loss or shortfall. Unfortunately, there was an
authoritarian culture within PO for many years - something which was,
ultimately, the root cause of the GLO and the reason so many postmasters lives
have been disrupted and adversely affected”.
Lord Arbuthnot, former MP for North East Hampshire, who previously led a cross-party
parliamentary group of MPs looking in to this matter on behalf of their affected
Postmaster constituents, has also now called for judge-led inquiry. Lord Arbuthnot
stated:
“The subpostmasters have been vindicated in every respect. It is an excellent
Christmas present, but won at great cost. The cost falls partly on the taxpayer
but also heavily on the subpostmasters themselves, who will have their damages
reduced by the amount the litigation funders will (justifiably) deduct.
“Now that these battles are being won, it is time to turn our attention to how it
all came about and went so far. We need an inquiry and, since the Post Office
has repeatedly given inaccurate information including to me, it needs to be led
by a judge. It may be that the best person to conduct the inquiry would be the
CWU 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX
General Secretary: Dave Ward
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judge who already has such extensive knowledge of the details, Sir Peter Fraser.
He has done much of the work already."
There is no doubt this appalling situation amounts to a national scandal. How can a
government-owned organisation treat so many people so badly for so long? There are
exceptionally serious questions to ask of the Post Office leadership and indeed
government for that matter. Whilst the legal process may have come to a conclusion
with the out of court settlement, this shouldn’t in any way detract from public scrutiny
of what has gone wrong here. The Union will consequently be vigorously pursuing in
the New Year, a Public Inquiry via all parliamentary avenues. The Post Office Board
and its former Chief Executive have to be accountable for their actions and the outcry
for justice is not going to go away.
Further developments will be reported.
Yours sincerely
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary
Attachment to
19LTB719 - Group Liti
CWU 150 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1RX
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General Secretary: Dave Ward
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