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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
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Post Office considered Horizon IT
system ‘high risk’, court told
The Post Office considered Horizon a high operational risk in an internal review, a
trial focused on alleged fallibilities in the system used in thousands of Post Office
branches has heard
By Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 12 Mar 2019 8:30
As the court battle between subpostmasters and the Post Office resumed in a
second trial, documents revealed that the computer system at the centre of the
dispute was considered high risk.
The court heard that an internal
Post Office review found that its IT
was not fit for purpose and would be
expensive and difficult to change.
More than 500 subpostmasters are
suing the Post Office through the
Bates versus Post Office group
litigation order (GLO).
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252459274/Post-Office-considered-Horizon-IT-system-as-high-risk-court-told 10
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
In 2009, Computer Weekly revealed that the lives of some subpostmasters, who run
Post Office branches, were turned upside down as a result of being fined, sacked,
made bankrupt and even imprisoned because of unexplained accounting
shortfalls. Some claimants were sent to prison, one while pregnant. They blame the
accounting and retail system they use, known as Horizon, for the problems. The
Post Office denies this.
Horizon, which was introduced in 1999/2000, is used by nearly 12,000 post office
branches. Subpostmasters are held liable for any unexplained losses (see timeline
below).
Citing Post Office documents, Patrick Green QC, representing subpostmasters, said
the Post Office had stated in public that plans to replace Horizon had nothing to do
with dissatisfaction or lack of confidence in the system. He said it stated this was
because its current contract was coming to an end.
But a Post Office review of its IT, also revealed in court, categorised the Horizon
branch system as being of “high operational risk”. This was the middle level of three
categories, between “severe risk” and “within appetite but attention required”.
Known errors of Horizon system
In preparation for the trial, a document known as the known errors log was
disclosed, revealing thousands of errors that the Post Office and Fujitsu knew about
but did not inform the subpostmaster network of. One known error, which featured
heavily on day one of the trial, was first made public by Computer Weekly in
November 2015.
The issue, which has become known as the Dalmellington case, named after the
branch, involved an incident in which thousands of pounds’ worth of payments were
duplicated for one subpostmaster. If undetected, this would have appeared as a loss
when the accounts were completed, which would be the responsibility of the
subpostmaster.
The problem, which was investigated by the Communications Workers Union (CWU)
postmaster branch, involves the process where subpostmasters transfer money
from a core Post Office branch to a remote branch created to serve rural areas,
known as an outreach, which is basically a branch on a laptop. These processes are
known as remittances.
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
It occurred because a subpostmaster
The trial disclosed a
document revealing
thousands of errors that
change and it did not appear to have been the Post Office and
sent. As a result, four payments of £8,000 Fujitsu knew about but
did not inform the
stmaster network
repeatedly pressed the command to send a
transaction because the screen didn’t
were recorded as being sent from a remote
branch to a central branch, but only one was
recorded as received. Accounts showed the
subpostmaster was £24,000 short.
In an email at the time, an Atos representative said: “This issue is caused by the
user forcing log-off when the post-login checks have not fully completed. We have
experienced previous instances of this issue in other branches [that] have been
caused in the same way (forced log-off).”
Pressure exerted by campaigners following the Computer Weekly article led to the
Post Office investigating the matter.
Helen Baker, president of the postmaster branch at the CWU at the time, was
contacted by the subpostmaster at Dalmellington when the accounting shortfall
appeared. At the time, she alerted Computer Weekly to the issue.
Following day one of the latest trial, Baker told Computer Weekly that when the
subpostmaster involved contacted her for help, she looked into the records and
identified what had happened. Subpostmasters generally do not have the training to
spot things like this, she said, although the accounts shortfall is their responsibility.
“Most subpostmasters do not know where to look or what to look for when there is a
shortfall,” she said.
Without help, said Baker, this type of loss might not be noticed until much later. She
said if the subpostmaster at Dalmellington, Ann Ireland, hadn't acted quickly, there
would have been an apparent loss that she would have found it difficult to explain at
a later date.
She added that subpostmasters are told by the Post Office that they do not need to
balance once a week, but only once a month, whereas her own advice is to “do it
straight away when you make a transaction’.
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
In relation to the Dalmellington bug, Antony de Garr Robinson QC, acting for the
Post Office, said in court that the Post Office had got to the bottom of what had
happened.
“They identified 112 potential branches with financial impact, 108 of which had been
fixed or made good. Of the other four, only two had a significant problem, and further
research showed that those two branches were not actually affected by the
Dalmellington bug at all, they just had similar symptoms that were the result of an
entirely separate cause and that were fixed entirely separately,” he said.
He said Dalmellington-type problems would be picked up by Post Office teams
before a subpostmaster lost money.
Post Office kept quiet about IT errors
The first trial in November focused on the contractual relationship between the Post
Office and the subpostmasters who manage its local branches.
But the computer system's alleged faults were a constant theme during the trial. For
example, documents referred to in court revealed evidence of a known problem with
Horizon described by the Post Office and its IT partner Fujitsu.
A Post Office internal memo from August 2010, referred to in court and
entitled Receipts payments mismatch issue memo day 1 OP_0008387, revealed
that discrepancies showing at the Horizon counter disappear when the branch
follows certain process steps, but will still show in the back-end branch account.
The memo added that this issue could be damaging if revealed. “If widely known, it
could cause a loss of confidence in the Horizon system,” the memo said. “There
could be a potential impact upon ongoing legal cases where branches are disputing
the integrity of Horizon data. It could provide branches with ammunition to blame
Horizon for future discrepancies.”
During cross-examination, Post Office director Angela van den Bogerd admitted that
the Horizon IT system had made mistakes, which the Post Office was responsible
for correcting, but said the Post Office did not necessarily have to tell its
subpostmaster network about the errors. Van den Bogerd said the Post Office could
have told subpostmasters about the errors, but did not.
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
The current trial is the second of four planned.
Judgments from the first trial are expected this week.
The case continues.
For live tweeting from court, see the Twitter account of broadcast journalist Nick
Wallis. Also read his Post Office trial blog.
Timeline of the Post Office Horizon case since Computer W eekly first
reported on it in 2009
May 2009: Bankruptcy, prosecution and disrupted livelihoods — postmasters tell their
story
September 2009: Postmasters form action group after accounts shortfall
November 2009: Post Office theft case deferred over IT questions
February 2011: Post Office faces legal action over alleged accounting system failures
October 2011: 85 subpostmasters seek legal support in claims against Post Office
computer system
June 2012: Post Office launches external review of system at centre of legal disputes
January 2013: Post Office admits Horizon system needs more investigation
January 2013: Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence
January 2013: Post Office wants to get to bottom of IT system allegations
June 2013: Investigation into Post Office accounting system to drill down on strongest
cases
July 2013: Post Office Horizon system investigation reveals concerns
October 2013: End in sight for subpostmaster claims against Post Office's Horizon
accounting system
October 2013: Former Lord Justice of Appeal Hooper jains Post Office Horizon
investigation
November 2013: 150 subpostmasters file claims over ‘faulty’ Horizon accounting
system
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
September 2014: Fresh questions raised over Post Office [T system's role in fraud
cases
December 2014: MPs blast Post Office over IT system investigation and remove
backing
December 2014: Why MPs lost faith in the Post Office's IT investigation, but vowed to
fight on
December 2014: MPs to debate subpostmaster IT injustice claims
December 2014: MP accuses Post Office of acting “duplicitously” in IT investigation
January 2015: MPs force inquiry into Post Office subpostmaster mediation scheme
January 2015: Post Office faces grilling by MPs over Horizon accounting system
February 2015: Post Office ClO will talk to any subpostmaster about IT problems,
promises CEO
March 2015: Post Office ends working _group for IT system investigation day before
potentially damaging report
March 2015: MPs seek reassurance over Post Office mediation scheme
March 2015: Retiring MP aims to uncover truth of alleged Post Office computer system
problems
April 2015: Post Office failed to investigate account shortfalls before legal action, report
claims
April 2015: Criminal Courts Review Commission set to review subpostmasters' claims
of wrongful prosecution
May 2015: IT system related to subpostmaster prosecutions under review by CCRC
June 2015: Post Office looking to replace controversial Horizon system with IBM, says.
MP
July 2015: Campaigners call for independent inquiry into Post Office Horizon IT system
dispute
October 2015: James Arbuthnot takes Post Office IT fight to House of Lords
November 2015: The union that represents Post Office subpostmasters has warned of
aproblem with the Horizon accounting system
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21/05/2024, 21:12
Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
November 2015: An email from Post Office IT support reveals a problem with the
Horizon system and supporting processes that could lead to accounting errors
November 2015: Group litigation against Post Office being prepared in Horizon dispute
February 2016: Post Office faces group litigation over Horizon IT as subpostmasters
fund class action
June 2016: Post Office chairman Tim Parker says there would be “considerable risk”
associated with changing its Horizon computer system
November 2016: The legal team hired by a group of subpostmasters will take their case
to the next stage
January 2017: The group action against the Post Office that alleges subpostmasters
have been wrongly punished for accounting errors gets a green light from the High Court
of Justice
March 2017: 1,000 subpostmasters apply to join IT-related group litigation against Post
Office
April 2017: Investigation into claims of miscarriages of justice in relation to a Post Office
accounting system has appointed a forensic accountant firm
May 2017: Hundreds of subpostmasters have applied to join IT-related legal action
since March
July 2017: Post Office defence in computer system legal case due this week
August 2017: Campaigners submit initial evidence in group litigation against Post Office
over controversial Horizon IT system
October 2017: Subpostmasters’ group action against the Post Office reaches an
important milestone
November 2017: An end is in sight for subpostmasters’ campaign against alleged
wrongful prosecution, which they blame on a faulty computer system
November 2017: The high court judge managing the subpostmasters versus Post Office
legal case over an allegedly faulty computer system tells legal teams to cooperate
January 2018: Forensic investigation into Post Office IT system at centre of legal case
nears completion
April 2018: Criminal Cases Review Commission forensic examination of the IT system
at the centre of a legal case against the Post Office has raised further questions
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Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
May 2018: Post Office branches unable to connect to Horizon computer system for
several hours after morning opening time
October 2018: After over a decade of controversy, next week marks the beginning of a
court battle between subpostmasters and the Post Office
November 2018: Case against Post Office in relation to allegedly faulty computer
system begins in High Court
November 2018: High Court case in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office
has revealed a known problem with a computer system at the core of the dispute
November 2018: A High Court trial, where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office for
damages caused by an allegedly faulty IT system, ends second week
November 2018: Post Office director admits to Horizon errors and not sharing details
with subpostmaster network
November 2018: The High Court trial in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office
has reached an important stage
December 2018: CCRC may hold off subpostmaster decision until after Post Office
Horizon trial
December 2018: Court case where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office set to
span at least four trials and extend into 2020
January 2019: Subpostmasters’ campaign group attacks Post Office CEO Paula
Vennells' New Year honour amid ongoing court case
January 2019: Thousands of known errors on controversial Post Office computer
system to be revealed
March 2019: Tech under spotlight at High Court in second subpostmasters versus Post
Office trial
“& Read more on Business applications
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
Post Office auditors
presumed subpostmasters
were ‘on the fiddle’ or ‘ina
muddle’
By: Karl Flinders
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21/05/2024, 21:12 Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told I Computer Weekly
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