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Message
From: Angela Van-Den-Bogerd [angela.van-den-bogerdtz.cc.cdicwcoron
Sent: 04/06/2014 14:44:28
To: Harry Clarke [harry.clarke’ ; Rod Ismay [rod.ismay “t; Lesley J Sewell
[lesley.j.sewelli
ce: Amanda K Stevens [amanda.k.stevensi
Subject: RE: Focusonline special - Horizon statement - 27 August 2013
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Harry,
Thanks for the note of clarity as I was a little confused by Rod’s earlier request.
See you at the Steering Group on Friday.
Angela
Angela Van Den Bogerd I Head of Partnerships
® 148 Old Street, LONDON, ECTV 9HQ
© I GRO
© angela.van-den-boger
S Post Office stories
& @postofticenews
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From: Harry Clarke
Sent: 04 June 2014 09:30
To: Rod Ismay; Angela Van-Den-Bogerd; Lesley J Sewell
Cc: Amanda K Stevens
Subject: RE: Focusonline special - Horizon statement - 27 August 2013
Hi Rod
i think there’s some confusion here. 1am aware of the Branch Support Programme and I’m at the Steering Grp meeting
this week, What I wasn’t aware of was the tide of criticism of NBSC on social media you were telling me of yesterday
afternoon. I know that Amanda has been in contact with you and there is 1 person in particular who continues to make
derogatory comments about various elements of POL, but other than that it is relatively quiet as a channel. Now, we
know there is other criticism via other channels ~ even though we received an 83% satisfaction rating in the branch
engagement survey, we clearly don’t have 100% of our customers happy with the service ie 17% are unhappy. We're
aware of this and Amanda has an improvement plan that she is executing, which is joined up with what Gayle is leading
on for Angela in the BSP, to make the service better for all its cutomers.
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On the other matter - let’s be clear about the issues yesterday. My understanding is there was an IT issue which resulted
in: transaction acknowledgements {TA’s) for lottery on Saturday being sent twice in error and Sunday's
acknowledgements being missing (although Monday’s had been issued). The NBSC notified ATOS at 08:00 of a high
volume of calls on this from staff in branches who did not know whether or not to accept the message on their screens.
In the absence of any instruction as to how to proceed the NBSC defaulted to the standard procedure and informed
branches to accept the TA’s.
NBSC received an instruction from ATOS at 11:40 which was to continue to provide the advice we had been giving. An
MBS with the resolution went out at around 15:20.
In all, the NBSC received over 300% of the planned telephone volumes. despite loading up an IVR message by 10:00
which advised branches on how to deal with the issue (this will be faster once we have wrestled control of this
functionality from the RM staff responsible for the telephony systems).
In these circumstances there will inevitably be delays to call answering times, and frustration from branches at the
inability of the NBSC to offer any certainty on the root cause whilst it is being investigated. However the overall
experience, for which many parties were responsible for delivering, could have been better and for me this highlights
the very reason that the BSP is in existence — to ensure that the root causes (not the symptoms) of the issues are
identified and corrected to prevent recurrence and we'll do this through a cycle of learning and continuous
improvement. I’m pleased to be part of the team looking at what needs to change and how we make the change
happen.
Regards
Harry
From: Rod Ismay
Sent: 03 June 2014 12:39
To: Harry Clarke; Angela Van-Den-Bogerd; Lesley J Sewell
Subject: FW: Focusonline special - Horizon statement - 27 August 2013
On the back of some issues today, Lesley and I agreed that I should speak with Harry about subpostmaster concerns
including re NBSC.
it was clear from mine and Harry’s conversation that it would be very helpful for Harry to receive a concise update on
the Branch Support Programme.
Angela — do you have something that would be a good overview for Harry.
For now I attach the Focus Online note at the start of the Branch Support Programme.
Thanks, Rod
Rod Ismay I Head of Finance Service Centre
2™ Floor West Block, No I Future Walk, West Bars, Chester!
: Email rod.ismayt
Post Office Finance ~ 2014 Winners Public & Voluntary Si
Best Finance Team 2014 Best Annual Report & Accounts
BusinessFinance Y
Awards 2014
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From: Communications Team
Sent: 27 August 2013 10:36
To: Communications Team
Subject: Focusonline special - Horizon statement - 27 August 2013
focusonline special
For your information, please find below our statement on Horizon that has been issued today.
Post Office announces independent mediation scheme for subpostmasters
The Post Office has today announced the introduction of an independent mediation scheme to address the concerns
raised by some subpostmasters regarding cases which they feel require further resolution.
This follows the publication of the interim report into the Horizon system produced by Second Sight in July. The report
stated that so far no evidence of system wide (systemic) problems with the Horizon software had been found. However,
it noted that improvements could be made in the training and support processes provided to subpostmasters. In response
to the report the Post Office has made a number of commitments, one of which is to create this independent mediation
scheme for subpostmasters and the Post Office to investigate and try to resolve a subpostmaster's concerns.
The Post Office, JFSA (Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance), and Second Sight, the independent investigators, have
formed a working group to collaboratively develop and monitor this scheme which is available to current and former
subpostmasters from 27 August 2013.
Commenting on the launch of the Scheme, Angela van den Bogerd Post Office Head of Partnerships said: “The Post
Office is committed to addressing any outstanding concerns among subpostmasters swiftly and transparently.
“As part of this commitment we set up an independent review which recently published an interim report which found
that so far there was no evidence of any systemic issues with Horizon but did identify some further improvements we
could make to our training and support arrangements, which we are taking forward.
“Tn addition, the independent mediation scheme we are announcing today will provide an effective way to assess and
address any outstanding cases where subpostmasters feel they have been unfairly treated.
“Subpostmasters are the lifeblood of our business and we take their concerns extremely seriously. We hope the package
of measures we are announcing will demonstrate our commitment to working closely with them to further improve our
network.”
Commenting on the announcement, James Arbuthnot MP, who is spearheading interest in the matter at Parliament,
said: “I am very pleased indeed with the working group’s proposed process. To my mind, it represents the very best
chance all parties — individual subpostmasters and mistresses, and the Post Office have of ensuring the best outcome for
everyone. It is fair, thorough, and independent.”
Subpostmasters wishing to submit an application can visit www.jfsa.org.uk for further information.
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