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01/2011
Agency Changes Communiqué (ACC)
To: Contract Advisors CC: Distribution List
HR Service Centre
From: Paul Williams
Restrictions Advisor
Subject: Family Transfers
1. Introduction & Purpose
In circumstances where a Subpostmaster divorces, or resigns due to
age or ill health and indicates that he/she will no longer play a part in
the day to day running of the Post Office® branch, it has been Post
Office Ltd’s established practice to allow branches to transfer to a close
family member without advertising the vacant position.
In such circumstances we expect the Subpostmaster to be able to
demonstrate that the transfer was of a non-commercial nature (i.e.
would not result in any financial gain to either party).
Equally where a subpostmaster dies in service, the business’ practice
has been to allow the branch to transfer to a suitable family member,
subject to the resolution of the estate / any probate issues.
The last instruction about this approach was ACC 72/2002 and there
have been many changes in the network and Post Office Ltd itself since
then. This ACC replaces ACC 72/02 and sets out current policy and
gives guidance about where and when it would be appropriate to allow
a family transfer to proceed.
2. Background and policy
The family transfer concession is best summarised as a supportive
gesture towards a Subpostmaster who has previously provided service
to an acceptable standard. A family transfer will often be associated
with a sudden crisis, such as serious illness, but can also be a
consequence of less traumatic circumstances, such as retirement.
Last Communiqué: 10/2010 Managing Performance
11/2010 Application Enrolment and Identity (AEI); Agent
Contracts (ii) Changes to appointment letters to
recognise AEIl.
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Acceptable reasons for a family transfer request to be made are:
e Death of the Subpostmaster.
e Serious illness (normally the Subpostmaster, but they may wish to care
for a relative).
e Divorce - could also include situations in which an unmarried couple
split up.
e The subpostmaster chooses to retire (please note that we do not impose
a retirement ‘age’ on our agents).
Having received a request for a family transfer, the basic criteria for judging
whether it would be appropriate to allow the concession remain as follows:
1. The performance at the branch has been conducted satisfactorily.
2. The entire premises including any Mailwork facility are satisfactory
and conveniently situated, enabling the office to remain ‘on site’.
3. The relative to whom it is proposed to transfer the appointment is
eligible and suitable.
Please note that if a Subpostmaster who has had his/her contract for services
summarily terminated or who has resigned to avoid summary termination of
the contract requests a family transfer, the request should be rejected and
the consequent vacancy advertised in the normal manner. Similarly, any
request from a suspended subpostmaster should be disregarded until the
issue behind the suspension is resolved. Equally, if a subpostmaster has been
given three months notice by Post Office Ltd as a consequence of their poor
performance, business at the branch could not have been conducted
satisfactorily and so a family transfer would not be appropriate. The
subpostmaster’s family member(s) would be free to apply along with anyone
else interested and their application would be judged on its own merits.
Post Office Ltd has never sought to provide a definitive list of “eligible” family
members that meet our criteria. Individual family circumstances differ widely
and social structures continue to change and evolve. We would therefore
continue to expect those dealing with requests from Subpostmasters to adopt
a common sense approach to the definition of “close family member”.
It is also vital to remember that family transfers are not intended to apply if
there is a commercial arrangement between the incoming and outgoing
Subpostmasters. In the past there has been much confusion about what
constitutes a commercial transaction. As with other aspects of this type of
case, it is not possible to provide an absolute definition as the variation
between individual the circumstances of individual families are almost
limitless.
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The most likely indicator of a commercial transaction would be that money
changed hands from one party to the other. However there is a need to be
careful when applying this test as in some cases movement of funds will be a
direct consequence of the circumstances that led to the request for a family
transfer. To give some examples of situations which are likely to be
acceptable:
e Death: There may be more than one beneficiary of the deceased
subpostmaster’s estate and so, as one example, the incoming
subpostmaster may need to “buy out” his/her siblings interests in the
property and business.
e Divorce: As part of the divorce settlement, the parties may need to
split the assets and so the incoming may need to make some sort of
payment to the outgoing subpostmaster
e Retirement: A Subpostmistress who lives on the premises and who is
retiring may have to sell the branch to her son/daughter if she is to
realise her investment and move home.
However a Subpostmaster selling his branch to a brother or cousin is more
likely to be a normal commercial transaction and so the application should be
processed as such.
3. Personal Service
Subpostmasters are agents and not employees of Post Office Ltd and it is
important that we continue to take an arm’s length approach to the
management of individual Subpostmasters. One of the strongest legal tests of
this arm’s length approach has been that a Subpostmaster is not obliged to
render personal service within his Post Office branch.
In the past there have been examples of family transfers being requested,
simply because the Subpostmaster/Subpostmistress did not actually work in
the branch, but their spouse or other close relative did. Presented with such
requests, some Post Office Ltd managers may have taken that view that it was
easier to deal with the contractual/management issues if the Subpostmaster is
on site and authorised a family transfer.
It is important that we do not compromise the agent status of subpostmasters.
We should not, therefore, seek to transfer the contract to a family member
simply because it appears to be more convenient to Post Office Ltd to have the
subpostmaster working at the branch.
Equally if we were approached by a Subpostmaster to transfer the office to a
family member for convenience sake, we should refuse for the reason that
they are not required to render personal service.
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4. Applying the Policy
The following paragraphs give some guidance on the practical application of
the policy at commercial branches.
4.1 Considering Requests
First the reason for the request must meet the broad criteria against which any
requests for a family transfer should be measured and these are set out
above. If the purpose for making the request is unclear, or seems outside the
factors outlined above, the Subpostmaster should be asked to explain the
reasons behind the request. Whilst a degree of flexibility is called for, business
policy should normally be adhered to, even if it appears that there is no
commercial gain to be made from the transfer. There may be Income Tax
implications that we would not be aware of (nor should we seek to be). It is
also possible that the Subpostmaster may want to transfer the office in order
to avoid or even precipitate bankruptcy, so each case should be looked at
carefully before any agreement is given.
4.2 Conditions of Appointment
However, if the reason for the transfer does appear to be acceptable, then the
premises and candidate can be considered using the given criteria above.
Assuming that the premises, previous management of the branch and
candidate are acceptable, any offer of appointment should include Conditions
of Appointment (COA). As with any new appointment appropriate COA should
be put in place when a family transfer takes place and Post Office Ltd can use
this opportunity to ensure that business policies are followed. Examples of
appropriate COA could include:
e Opening hours to meet business policy [i.e. core hours are
implemented].
e Branch to meet “Branch Standards” requirements.
e Any breaches of the Restrictions Policy to cease.
The Contract Advisor should consider setting these and any other necessary
conditions subject to the normal parameters in place when setting COA.
However, in particularly traumatic circumstances, such as following the
sudden death in service of a Subpostmaster, a degree of caution and
sympathy should be exercised. To avoid any subsequent allegations of
unprofessional behaviour or heavy-handedness it would also be wise to allow
some time for the next of kin to come to terms with events before making any
temporary arrangements permanent.
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There may be cases where, had a normal vacancy occurred, Post Office Ltd
would have sought to change the status of a branch e.g. from full time to
Community. In the event that a Family Transfer is requested by the incumbent
agent, any such proposed changes can be considered and discussed with the
incoming agent. As a general rule, status changes as part of a Family Transfer
would be implemented by agreement, rather than by being imposed. This is
especially important when dealing with traumatic circumstances where we do
not want to act, or be accused of acting, in an uncaring manner.
4.3 Premises and Third Party Arrangements
When considering a Family Transfer, it is important that the ownership and
control of the premise in which the Post Office branch and any associated retail
business is understood.
In normal circumstances it would be expected that the incoming
subpostmaster would have full control of the premises, in order that they can
discharge all of the obligations contained in the Subpostmasters Contract.
Where the outgoing subpostmaster has had control of the entire premises, we
would expect the incoming agent to have the same degree of control. As an
example, it would not, be acceptable for one family member to be appointed
as the subpostmaster whilst another assumed control of the premises or retail
business.
In the event that the incoming subpostmaster was proposing to continue an
existing third party arrangement, it is important that the Contract Advisor
understands their nature, is quite clear as to who has control of the premises
and records this in the appointment papers.
4.4 Summary Termination and Termination on three months Notice.
As should be clear from the contents of Section 2 above, if it has become
necessary to terminate a Subpostmaster’s contract either summarily or by
three months notice, a Family Transfer should not be used to avoid the
termination process.
5. Process
The application process for Family Transfers is already clearly defined within
the Subpostmaster’s Recruitment Process and you should refer to those
documents should you require information.
Where the family member put forward has no previous experience of working
in the Post Office branch, the Contract Advisor should ensure that the
interview process establishes that the candidate does demonstrate the skills
and experience required to run one of the branch in question. If the candidate
clearly is not suitable, we do not have to make an offer appointment.
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6. Input to this ACC
This ACC has been produced with input from Michael Haworth, John Breeden,
Paul Inwood and the team at the HRSC Farnworth, in particular Sara Kingsley,
Sharon Bohanna and Lee Kelly, and their valuable contributions are very much
appreciated.
7. Next Steps and Contact
If you need any further information or if you require clarification on any other
point, please contact the author.
Paul Williams
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