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V8 19-8-2019
DOCUMENT -- 7
DRAFT — IN STRICTEST CONFIDENCE AND SUBJECT TO LEGAL PRIVILEGE
GLO COMMUNICATIONS — HORIZON ISSUES TRIAL JUDGMENT
DRAFT MEDIA STATEMENT
POST OFFICE RESPONSE TO JUDGMENT IN THE SECOND TRIAL OF GROUP LITIGATION ORDER
The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser has delivered his judgment in the second trial of Group
Litigation brought against Post Office by a small proportion of former postmasters. The purpose
of this second trial was to determine a number of technical matters about Post Office’s Horizon
computer system (the electronic point of sale system in branches). This trial forms part of
preliminary stages in the litigation designed to establish the context in which the facts and
circumstances of the individual claims can properly be determined. That examination, a
determining cause and liability issues, will not take place until well into next year (2020).
Post Office Chairman Tim Parker said:
“We take this judgment, and the litigation of which it forms part, extremely seriously.
“As both the independent experts for the Claimants and the Post Office, on opposite sides of
the litigation confirm, we can be confident that overall Horizon is robust, comparing well
with systems used by other retail and financial services companies every day.
“But clearly no system can ever be said to be perfect. That is why Horizon’s performance is
continually monitored and why we’re working as hard as ever to make improvements
wherever we can. Overall more than [100?] changes are being/ have been made earlier this
year in a comprehensive programme, closely involving our postmasters.
“Horizon processes around 47 million transactions a week, more than £60 billion worth a
year. These are reconciled every day, every, month, every year, with the systems of major
organisations including high street banks, utility companies and Government departments,
giving confidence in the many products and services we provide.
“As the judgment underlines, the way in which we help our postmasters operate their Post
Offices to deliver those services is absolutely central to our joint success. We’re taking/
we've taken firm action to improve that support, alongside further investment in our
technology.
“Over the last 12 to 18 months, we have had a particular focus on making changes at every
level of the business to build a better partnership with our postmasters to help them better
serve their customers, earn more money, for less effort, and with better support from us.
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Page 1 Comments
Al Could be 2021. The trial next March is about loss, not liability.
AP6, 28/08/2019 02:38 PM
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1 I “These include significantimprovements to recruitment, training and operational support, as
well as changes which further reduce the risk of human errors in branches.
“We are committed to making it easier for our postmasters to deliver vital Post Office
services our customers want and need and build thriving businesses for themselves at the
same time.”
[Add in lines re potential next legal steps as appropriate]
-ends-
Notes to editors
The products and services that Post Office’s provide every day to millions of customers are not
m2
affected by the litigation.
The litigation is part of a long-running dispute between Post Office and a group of mostly former
postmasters who have made allegations about technical, operational and contractual matters.
The case is complex and being heard as a series of trials. The Horizon issues trial concluded in
July 2019. It covered technical matters relating to the 20-year period spanned by individual
claims, during which time there have been significant changes, with some of the systems and
processes referenced no longer in existence.
No hearings have yet taken place to determine individual claimants’ cases and the litigation is
scheduled to continue through into 2020.
The Horizon system
Horizon is the electronic point of sale system used across all 11,500 Post Office branches to
record and reconcile each transaction.
Horizon supports approximately 30,000 terminals in branches, with currently around 60,000
users and 47 million transactions a week.
Horizon was first introduced in 1995 on a pilot basis in a small number of Post Office branches,
before being rolled out more widely. The current version — Horizon Online — was introduced in
2010 and has been continually improved and updated. Investing in technology remains a priority
and in 2018/19 Post Office rolled out new equipment to all branches and transformed its back
office systems.
Transactions in Post Office branches are undertaken on behalf of other large-scale organisations
including high street banks, utility companies and Government departments. The accuracy of
transactions is therefore subject to reconciliation checks with their systems, as well as with
those of Post Office systems. Around £60 billion worth of transactions are processed through
Horizons and reconciled every year.
[Horizon, which is supplied by Fujitsu, is subject to regular comprehensive and independent
reviews, testing and audit procedures — top line details XXXXX]
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Page 2 Comments
A2 See comment in doc 2
AP6, 28/08/2019 02:40 PM
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Track Changes
1 Delete AP6, 28/08/2019 02:39 PM