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SPMR Appeals Panel Process V1 23" March 2011
Subpostmaster Appeals Panel
Process
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SPMR Appeals Panel Process V1 23" March 2011
Contents
Introduction Page 1
Types of Appeal Page
1
The Appeal Manager Role Page
2
Responsibilities of the Contract Advisor
Page 2
Responsibilities of the Contract Admin Team
Page 3
Responsibilities of the Contract / Appeals & Admin Manager
Page 4
The Rights of the Individual Page
4
Handling of an Appeal Page
4/5
Cases proceeding to Employment Tribunals
Page 6
Appendix 6.1 - Agent Case Summary
Page 7
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1. Introduction
These guidelines have been produced for new and existing Appeals
Managers.
The purpose of these guidelines is:
e To clarify who will be involved in the Appeals process, and their
responsibilities
e To outline the support available from Royal Mail Group Legal Services
and external lawyers
To date, Post Office Ltd has maintained a professional, reliable and unbiased
approach to appeals and consequently our legal track record is very good.
These guidelines aim to help you to maintain our current quality standards
and should be read together with the relevant procedural document such as:
e Subpostmaster’s contract for services
e Operational Manuals relevant to the branch
e Business or Operational standards
2. Types of Appeal
2.1 Subpostmaster Appeal Panel members are required to hear appeals made
by Subpostmasters against summary termination of their contract for service.
2.2 The Agents Contracts Deployment Managers North & South or an
authorised Contract Advisor hear appeals made by Subpostmasters against
the level of culpability following a robbery or burglary.
2.3 There is no right of appeal against the termination of a contract with
three months notice. Subpostmasters are entitled on termination of contract
by 3 months notice to “have a conversation” with the Regional General
Manager regarding their situation, in these instances an Appeals Manager will
take the role of Regional General Manager
3. The Appeals Manager Role
3.1 Appointment of Appeals Managers
Senior managers from within Network Service & Transformation will be
selected to be Appeals Managers.
When new Appeals Managers are needed, the Head of Network Services will
approach the potential Appeals Managers to identify those with the correct
skills and attributes to join the panel. The Appeals Training course is not
available through the PDP process.
All Appeals Managers who are members of the Subpostmaster Appeal Panel
must be Senior Managers at band 3a or above.
3.2 Training
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The Appeals Training Course is a one-day course run by Senior Network
Services Managers. The course is intensive and involves a significant amount
of practical work including a variety of case studies.
Following appointment new Appeals Managers will receive mentoring and
performance feedback from experienced Appeals Managers as part of their
induction process.
3.3 Commitment
Each Appeals Manager can expect to be asked to hear a minimum of 4
appeals per year, these will generally be geographically close to their normal
work area, although the appeal could be for any area within the United
Kingdom, a list of allocations will be maintained by the Contract Appeal &
Admin Manager, these allocations will be based on location and designed to
maintain experience. Any refusal to hear an appeal will be subject to
discussion with the relevant line manager - see section 6.2.
Regional Network Managers will not hear appeals where their team has been
involved in the audit or training of the branch or the branch is located within
their own geographical area of responsibility.
Agents Contracts Deployment Managers will not form part of the
Subpostmaster Appeals Panel.
In 2008 there were 56 Agent appeals,
In 2009 there were 62 Agent Appeals.
In 2010 we expect this to be in the region of 70 Agent Appeals
This is equal to about four cases per Appeals Manager per year.
However Appeals Managers will be expected to hear as many
appeals as necessary subject to demand.
4. Responsibilities of the Contract Advisor
When the Contract Advisor who has awarded the penalty of summary
termination of a Subpostmasters contract for services receives an appeal
request, he/she has the following responsibilities:
4.1. To immediately notify the Contract Admin Team of an appeal request by
emailing the agent case summary (Appendix 6.1). The e-mail should include
“Subpostmaster Appeal case for allocation, branch name, branch code and
postcode’ in the subject title.
4.2. To acknowledge the appeal request in writing and reassure the
Subpostmaster that they will be contacted as soon as possible by a member
of the Subpostmaster Appeals Panel.
4.3. To collate all the relevant papers in electronic format and attach them to
the case summary document. Forward the case summary document to the
Contract Admin Team within 5 working days of receipt of the appeal request.
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4.4. Once the Contract Admin Team has notified the Contract Advisor who the
Appeals Manager will be, the Contract Advisor will then forward the
completed case summary document to the Appeals Manager by email or ona
CD by secure post.
4.5 On conclusion of the case the Appeals Manager will return all the papers
to the Contract Admin Team in electronic format attached to the case
summary document. The Contract Admin Team should check the appeal
outcome for any improvement opportunities identified by the Appeals
Manager. These should be notified to the relevant people concerned eg if
there is an issue with the appeals process this should be referred to the
Contract / Appeals & Admin Manager.
5. Responsibilities of the Contract Admin Team.
5.1. To maintain the list of Appeals Managers on the Subpostmaster Appeals
Panel, including details of their availability and past performance for
management purposes.
5.2. To allocate appeals to Appeals Managers within 1 working day and feed
back to appropriate line managers where cases have been declined - see
section 6.2.
5.3. To ensure the Appeals Manager is totally independent. This means that
they have no previous connection to the case or the individual involved in the
appeal. For Regional Network Managers the branch must not be within the
geographical area that they cover and no members of their team should have
been involved in the audit or training of the branch. Trying to minimise travel
commitments wherever possible, however Appeals Managers will be expected
to travel if necessary. All case allocations will be made by forwarding the
case summary to an Appeals Manager by email. A return receipt will be used
to confirm delivery.
5.4. To ensure cases are normally completed within a maximum of 6 weeks of
the notification received of intent to appeal the Contract Advisor decision.
If dealing with “discussion following 3 months notice of termination”
that this discussion takes place within 8 weeks of the notice period
being issued.
5.5 To notify the Contract Advisor via template e-mail of the name of the
appointed Appeals Manager and the date they agreed to take up the case.
Complete the relevant section of the case summary document.
5.6 To record the details of each appeal case on the Appeal Register and
monitor the completion of each case. Monitor progress of each case.
5.7 Produce timely and accurate management information in the format
prescribed.
6. Responsibilities of the Contract / Appeals & Admin Manager
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6.1. To maintain and periodically update this document.
6.2. To respond to all queries about any aspect of the appeals process
including contact with line managers when there is a refusal to hear an
appeal.
6.3. To oversee the maintenance of the Appeals performance monitoring
systems.
6.4. Working with the Agents Contracts Deployment Manager North
undertake the following actions
e To implement any identified improvement opportunities at a national
level.
e To liaise with Legal Services to ensure legal compliance,
communicating all relevant information to the Appeals Managers and
the Contract Admin Team.
e To initiate, when required, new Appeals Manager Training courses.
e To keep all Subpostmaster Appeals Managers up to date with important
information / legal developments.
e Consider methodology required for periodically reviewing appeal cases
for conformance with the appeals process and overall consistency of
decision making.
7. The Rights of the Individual - principles to consider
The Subpostmaster’s contract for services fully documents the rights of the
individual.
Appeals Managers are reminded that there are rules of natural justice
which must be considered when carrying out the appeal, and which require
that:
e The individual should know the case against them. This means that the
charge must be specific and the evidence against them made known to
them.
« The individual should have the chance to state their case.
e There must be no bias in the appeals proceedings.
8. Handling an appeal
These are the essential steps you will take when handling an appeal:
8.1. You will receive the case papers from the Contract Advisor in electronic
format. The intention is that only those papers that are required for the
appeal should be printed. Only those documents used by the Contract Advisor
should be contained within the case summary document.
8.2. Read all the papers carefully to ensure that:
e They are complete
e There has been an adequate investigation
e There are no apparent procedural problems
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« You decide how to deal with any problem areas
Incomplete files should be returned to the Contract Advisor for either full
completion or an explanation as to why papers/documents are missing (you
would normally copy in the Agents Contracts Deployment Manager North /
South to make them aware).
8.3. Make arrangements for a date, time and location for the hearing, liaising
with the NFSP Executive Officer if applicable. Also arrange assistance with
note taking. (Consideration is currently being given to whether appeal
hearings will be voice recorded via Dictaphone, as is the case for recruitment
and suspension interviews).
8.4. Write to the individual inviting them to the appeal hearing enclosing an
explanation of the appeals procedure. An Appeal Hearing can either be face
to face or undertaken by written submission.
8.5. Be sympathetic to any reasonable request for an adjournment to an
alternative date however it is important to complete the appeal as quickly as
possible. Only in exceptional circumstances would an appeal hearing be
adjourned longer than 14 days. If the appellant is finding it difficult to attend
they should be offered the opportunity to enter a written appeal instead.
8.6. An impending prosecution of a Subpostmaster should not hold up the
appeal as this is a separate legal process to the appeal. If however there is
any doubt, guidance should be obtained from the Agents Contracts
Deployment Manager who will work with Legal Services to ensure POL’s
position is not compromised.
8.7. Hold the appeal being sympathetic, but neutral, to the individual. Ensure
the individual and their representative has copies of any relevant papers.
Your role is to gather sufficient evidence to enable you to reach a reasoned
decision. You should not attempt to defend the original decision as you are
taking a fresh and impartial look at the case. (You should establish the
basis for the appeal and also what aspects of the original hearing
are in / not in dispute).
8.8. Send the individual (and the NFSP if applicable) a copy of the hearing
notes for agreement seeking any comments / amendments by a specific date.
8.9 Where necessary undertake further investigations and let the individual
know the outcome.
8.10 Ensure the individual has the opportunity to comment upon any new
evidence that arises as a result of the further investigations by a specific
date.
8.11. Weigh up all the evidence, record conclusions and make a reasoned
decision on the balance of probabilities. Your thought process in reaching the
decision should be fully documented.
8.12. If the charge is found to be substantiated, examine the gravity of the
misconduct and any mitigating evidence, document the logic and decide on a
reasonable penalty in line with the Subpostmaster’s contract for services.
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8.13. An Appeals Manager can find the case against the individual proven,
but disagree with the original penalty. In such circumstances, your options are
to:
e Uphold the decision to terminate their contract for services
e Uphold the decision to terminate their contract for services but with
three months notice
e Reinstate their contract for services with or without penalties e.g. with
a finat written warning, final written warning and reinstatement subject
to the repayment of any losses.
It is not the Appeals Managers role to determine what happens to the branch
or how losses are recovered. This is the role of the Contract Advisor who will
contact the Subpostmaster once the appeal has been completed.
The decision of the Appeals Manager is final. There are no further internal
processes to contest an appeal decision.
8.14. Notify the Subpostmaster of your decision in writing. They need to be
given reasons as to why you have reached your decision; there is no
requirement to defend it to them.
8.15. Return all the papers electronically embedded into the case summary
document and return to the Contract Admin Team. The report should cover:
e The approach taken
Documented action prior to the appeal
The notes of the appeal interview and any further comments made by
the individual
Details of subsequent investigations
Conclusions reached and how
The decision
Copies of all correspondence
Any identified improvement opportunities/ learning points.
ee
eooeee
8.16. A copy of the decision letter and personal improvement opportunities /
learning points should be sent to the Contract Advisor, copied to their line
manager when the case is finalised. Notify the Contract / Appeals & Admin
Manager of any improvement opportunities which affect national processes.
9. Cases Proceeding to Employment Tribunals
Tribunals are for dealing with disputes between employers and employees,
workers or certain office holders and do not apply to Subpostmasters.
Occasionally, however, a Subpostmaster will lodge a tribunal claim on the
contention that he/she is an employee or worker. There is now settled case
law that Subpostmasters are not employees or workers who work under a
contract for service. In these instances, Legal Services or their external
suppliers/agents will take the necessary steps to defend such claims.
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Appendix 6.1
AGENT CASE SUMMARY
APPEAL AGAINST SUMMARY TERMINATION OF CONTRACT
FOR COMPLETION BY CONTRACT ADVISOR
1. _I Full Name of Subpostmaster
2. I Office Name & Branch Code
Address & Postcode
Telephone
3 Private Address & Postcode
(If different from above)
Telephone
4. I Brief Details of the Case
5. I Details of Specific charge /s
6. I Date of precautionary
suspension
7. I Brief summary of reasons for
making decision to terminate
contract for services
8. I Date of decision to terminate
contract for services
9. I Name & telephone number of
Contract Advisor
10 I Date of receipt of Appeal
: request from Subpostmaster
11 I Date of submission to Contract
: Admin Team
FOR COMPLETION BY CONTRACT ADMIN TEAM
11. I Date received from Contract
Advisor
12. I Appeals Manager appointed -
name and date
13. I Date case summary document
emailed to Appeals Manager.
14. I Target date of case completion
(6 weeks from the date the
appeal request was received
by CA)
FOR COMPLETION BY APPEALS MANAGER
15. I Date Case Completed
(i.e. date of notification to
appellant of outcome)
16. I Outcome
17. I Improvement Opportunities
Identified
18. I Subsequent Action Taken
Please ensure that all sections of this form are completed in full and
returned to the Contract Admin Team as soon as possible. A copy of this
form should also be retained with the case papers.
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