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Investigation Policy Page I
CASEWORK MANAGEMENT
PURPOSE
The aim of this policy is to ensure that adequate controls are in place to maintain standards throughout
investigation processes.
LINK TO ACCOUNTABILITIES
Security Managers
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POLICY
REPORTING STANDARDS
* Industrial Tribunals have criticised the practice of refusing to disclose investigation reports to
interviewees on the grounds of privilege. As a consequence, it is now business policy to release
investigation reports to the subjects of those investigations during the disciplinary process. It is
therefore essential that consistent standards are applied by all staff in the Security Community
when compiling investigation reports to comply with business requirements whilst avoiding
unauthorised disclosure of sensitive material.
e — Investigation reports should detail the facts of the case, including admissions and denials, and only
contain allegations against an individual that can by supported by the evidence collected during the
course of the enquiry. Care should be taken not to express unsubstantiated personal opinions which
might unfairly influence subsequent disciplinary action.
* A copy of the investigation report and summary or transcript of the interview will be submitted to
the relevant discipline manager who will release a copy of the report to the individual concerned
during the conduct procedure in accordance with the business conduct code. To preserve the
integrity of the decision making process, reports should be sent directly to the decision making
manager concerned as far as this is practicable.
¢ In the majority of investigation cases, the investigation report alone will adequately meet the
requirements of both the prosecution and conduct processes. In some cases, however, it is
necessary to protect sensitive information which, if disclosed, could damage either ongoing
enquiries, the anonymity of informants or the reputation of Consignia
¢ For cases in England & Wales, sensitive information should be detailed in a separate report clearly
marked with the level of sensitivity (In Confidence/In Strictest Confidence etc.) and placed ina
sealed envelope enclosed in the case papers sent to Legal Services, Criminal Law Division and
must be listed on form CS006D and if necessary CSO06E as sensitive information *. The
information contained in the confidential report is strictly for Legal Services’ use and must not be
circulated with copies of the investigation report used for disciplinary purposes. The confidential
report will be retained by Legal Services. ( Procedures for reporting sensitive information for cases
in Scotland and Northern Ireland are under separate consideration by Legal Services).
* See Post Office Code of Practice under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.
. Sensitive information includes:-
* Personal details of informants
* CRO Numbers
* Accusations, suspicions or opinions which are unsubstantiated but nevertheless need to be
considered by Legal Services
* Allegations or suspicions directed against individuals not yet questioned
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¥ Information or opinions concerning the reliability of witnesses
* Disciplinary findings against witnesses.
Heads of Security should ensure that all investigation reports are vetted
for content before copies are supplied for disciplinary purposes.
In England and Wales, Legal Services will decide what information will be disclosed
to the Defence in compliance with the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.
If, during the course of an enquiry, failures in security or operational procedures are identified
which may or may not be directly connected with the offence/s under investigation, a separate
report should be made to the relevant function or line manager in order that remedial action should
be taken. In the interests of maintaining good industrial relations and to maintain confidentiality, it
is important that individuals are not named in this report and that recommendations are made in
general terms. The separate report to the relevant manager will also need to be listed on the form
CS006D and possibly on the form CSO06E. Legal Services will then decide whether such a report
should be disclosed to the Defence under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.
The issue of dealing with information concerning procedural failures is a difficult one. Some
major procedural weaknesses if they become public knowledge have the potential to assist others
to commit offences against the Post Office, or to undermine the Prosecution case, or to bring
Consignia into disrepute, or to harm relations with major customers such as the DSS or Girobank.
Unless the Offender states that he is aware that accounting weaknesses exist and that he took
advantage of them, it is important not to volunteer that option to the Offender during interview.
The usual duties of disclosure under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 still
apply.
When reporting the outcome of an enquiry, sufficient details should be provided for an offender
record to be made in respect of persons:
- who have admitted offences
- who have been charged with an offence
- against whom a summons or warrant for arrest has been issued
- who resign to escape dismissal
- who are debarred for criminal reasons.
The procedure for reporting criminal offences to Police is detailed at Appendix 15
Investigation reports should be marked * STAFF IN CONFIDENCE?’ in cases where the honesty
of a member of staff may be in question and an appropriate privacy marking should be used in all
Children and Young Persons cases
IX 6,
The standard format for investigation reports is set out at APPE
3.2 PROSECUTION CASEWORK
Details of evidential requirements, casework preparation and submission timescales are set out in
the Prosecution Guidelines issued to all investigators.
To maintain standards and ensure consistency, official forms should always be used in preference
to locally produced forms and proformas,
Casework should always be presented in standard SIS-supplied file jackets, with ‘Urgent
Today’ label CS104 attached.
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Reports, including any preliminary incident reports, should be single sided and placed in the file
in date order with each page numbered consecutively in pencil at the top right corner.
Typed tape summaries and statements should be paged in immediately following the main
investigation report in the order in which the interviews are conducted.
Legal Services will not recommend prosecution in respect of offenders who have not been
suspended from duty or dismissed therefore a copy of the disciplinary papers should be placed in
the file or forwarded separately to Legal Services immediately they are available.
Enclosure envelopes should be used to enclose the following supporting documents:-
(a) Appendix A
Original Statements and, where appropriate, copies of original exhibits *
(b) Appendices B, C etc.
Personnel Printouts
Friend forms
Search records
Antecedents
NPA Forms
Disclosure forms
Confidential reports
Interview copy tape
Copy investigation reports - (3)
Copy Tape Summaries/NOT - (1)
Committal Bundles(if for Crown Court)
Copies of summons/indictments/Counsel’s advice as appropriate
* Copies of any exhibits produced during the interview should be enclosed in the file.
An encompassing Privacy Marking should be applied to the file cover and relevant markings to
any subsequent sensitive enclosures.
3.3 CASEWORK MANAGEMENT
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In the interests of fairness and in compliance with the Attorney General’s guidelines it is essential
that every case where an employee is given into custody or suspended from duty must be dealt
with urgently at all stages. This enables the separate questions of prosecution and
dismissal/disciplinary action to be resolved with minimal delay.
To reduce the risk of files becoming lost/mislaid a central register of casework should be
maintained which logs all movement of all papers. Each investigator should maintain an
individual record of investigations for which he/she is responsible and regular supervisory checks
should be made of this record to ensure accuracy.
Prosecution cases should be regularly monitored for compliance with timescales laid down in the
Prosecution Guidelines.
A central record of offenders and action taken against them must be maintained by each § & T
‘unit.
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3.4
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All Consignia employees who are dismissed for criminal activity must be debarred from future PO
employment and a copy of the debarment notice P2051X must be supplied to SIS Criminal
Intelligence Office.
To ensure compliance with the Data Protection Legislation investigation files should not be
circulated for information purposes, accounting action etc. These matters should be dealt with by
separate proformas.
Casework managers should ensure all avenues of enquiry have been exhausted and all outstanding
matters have been completed in each case before an investigation is closed and the papers filed.
Any procedural failures in the investigation or prosecution processes should be thoroughly
investigated and suitable action taken by reviewing working methods and the provision of
additional training where required. Any failures considered to be due to weaknesses in existing
S&I Standards should be referred to the Investigation Policy Manager at SIS Corporate Security.
‘The aspects to be covered in the final report on prosecution are detailed in Appendix 4.
Cases should be securely retained as follows:-
1. Unresolved cases of major loss/incident 5 YEARS
2. Cases where a member of Consignia staff
has come under suspicion of dishonesty but
guilt has not been proved
3. A series of systematic offences against Consignia where the offender/suspected
offender is an outsider. no
4. All other cases 3 YEARS
Cases containing important decisions on Law, Policy or Procedure should be submitted to
the Head of Corporate Security for sight before being filed.
Retention periods (England & Wales) in respect of evidential material are given in Section 3 of
the Post Office Codes of Practice under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act
1996.
POLICE (PROPERTY) ACT 1897
Many inquiries relating to stolen Consignia property are undertaken by Police who are, of course,
fully aware of the provisions of Sections 24 and 28 of the Theft Act 1968. Investigators should
do what they can to ensure that the opportunity to recover official property in Police prosecution
cases is not lost by default - e.g. through the absence of a Business applicant or through
inadequate liaison arrangements with the Police force concerned.
Applications for recovery of property obtained dishonestly where the property is in the hands of
the Police, can be made under the Police (Property) Act 1897. It is important to remember that
time is of the essence for making such applications because there is a six month time limitation
period from the time that the matter of complaint became due for commencing proceedings in the
Magistrates’ Court under the 1897 Act. In addition, there is a separate six month time limitation
period from the date of an order under the 1897 Act for a person to commence legal proceedings
against any person in possession of property delivered by virtue of an order for recovery of the
property under the 1897 Act.
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3.5 CRIMINAL BANKRUPTCY
In cases involving large sums of money advice concerning criminal bankruptcy should be sought from
Legal Services
3.6 SCOTTISH LAW
© The Theft Act 1968 is not, at present, part of Scottish Law.
© InScotland, even when it is admitted by an offender at the time of arrest or suspension from duty, or
it can be proved, that certain property in his possession was purchased with money which he stole
from the post, or stole, or fraudulently obtained, for Consignia, none of the property may be
removed from the custody of the offender unless:-
a) It is necessary to take possession of any specific item or items to provide evidence in Court in
support of a specific charge: or
b) The offender himself, without any request or suggestion whatsoever on the part of the
investigator, expresses a desire to surrender it to Consignia, which must be embodies in the
offender’s written statement, or in the notes of interview or tape, in the exact terms in which it is
made.
Whether or not an investigator takes possession of any such property he/she should
prepare a list of it - which the offender should be asked, but not pressed, to sign - and should
indicate its approximate value. This is list must be enclosed with the investigator’s report
e Any such property taken possession of under 7.2(a) and not subsequently retained by the Court,
must be returned to the offender against receipt immediately after the trial.
« Any such property taken possession of under 7.2(b) must be retained (unless perishable) for 6
months and then disposed of in the usual manner.
4. Links to other reference material (policies, processes and procedures, etc.)
Title Author Located Version Type Policy
No.
41 Criminal Procedure & HMSO 1996 Act 3.1/3.3
Investigations PO Code of
Practice
4.2 PO Prosecution Guidelines 3.2/3
5. Document details
Author :
Owner : Head of Corporate Security
Audience: Security Community
Enquiry point : Programme Manager, Law & Legislation, Corporate Security,
4" Floor, Impact House, 2 Edridge Road, CROYDON, CR9 1PJ
5.5 Effective from : March 2000
5.6 Review date : January 2001
5.7 Last updated : March 2000
6. Assurance Details
6.1 Name:
6.2 Business Unit:
6.3 Assurance Date:
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7 Final Review
7.4 I Approved by
72 Documented (Hard Copy) YES/NO Location:
7.3 . (Electronic) YES/NO Location:
Policy Title ‘Casework Management
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