Reports/ Transaction Corrections
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Horizon is free from defects
Day 2 page 18 paragraphs D, E
and F
The sub postmaster can obtain a print out from the
computer regarding the balance of the Post Office. They
can print out a document to see what the computer thinks
they should have in their stock.
This allows the sub postmaster to check any other transactions
which have been completed so that they can ensure that the
balance is the same as the computer believes it to be.
Day 3 page 4 paragraphs E,F and
G
The Horizon system keeps a running tally of all
transactions and the operator is able to request various
reports from the system at any time to display the current
state of the accounts. The branch trading account must
be signed by the sub postmaster to indicate that it is a
true and accurate record of the accounts.
The Horizon system allows the sub postmaster to review any
reports and cash held and stock held at any time. Thus the sub
postmaster can continually monitor their stock in respect of how
much the computer system thinks they have and how much they
actually have.
Day 3 page 13 paragraphs C and
F
Transaction corrections are electronically sent down the
system. Once the transaction correction comes down the
sub postmaster can either accept the transaction which
would effectively be the same as doing the transaction
correctly.
As soon as any transactional errors have been identified the Horizon
system electronically provides a transaction correction report for the
sub postmaster so they can check the transaction in respect of what
they have done.
Day 3 page 23 paragraphs G and
H
Day 3 page 40 paragraph D
Day 3 page 42 paragraphs D and
E
Day 3 page 45 paragraph B and C
The sub postmaster is able to pull off a receipt for a
particular transaction at that particular time. Ifa
transactional error occurs there will be a telephone call
alert which informs the Post Office when the transactional
error has been discovered. The sub postmaster has a
chance to print off the transaction log for at least six
months after the transaction has occurred. There is a
number of transaction reports for various transactions
which have been completed by the sub postmasters. The
sub postmasters are actively encouraged to print off
these reports and check them.
POL encourage the sub postmaster to print off the transaction
reports in order for them to check transactions which have
occurred. They are able to indicate what they are looking for
therefore they should be able to find their particular transaction and
any errors can be limited or avoided wherever possible.
Day 3 page 52 paragraph G
We have looked at how we can reduce the amount of
paper in the system both from a green perspective as well
as an operation perspective and how we can reduce our
operating costs as well.
The Horizon system does not produce a high level of paper
documentation. The reason for this is that Post Office understand
there is a significant amount of paper used in the Post Office as it is
and it would not be helpful to be printing off reams of paper from
the Horizon system in respect of transaction logs. The sub
postmaster has an ability to print off transaction logs as they wish
from the Horizon system.
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6 I Day 4 page 29 paragraphs F,G The accounts can be changed by transaction correction if I The Horizon system allows any disputed transactions to be fully
and H the sub postmaster agrees to the correction. If he or she I evidenced by the sub postmaster and POL before they affect the
disputes it then nothing will happen on the account. The sub postmaster’s accounting system. Therefore the sub postmaster
sub postmaster can mark it saying “seek evidence” in is not immediately penalised for any error which has occurred they
which the transaction is effectively cancelled out and does I are able to take the opportunity to have a look at the evidence
not affect the local accounts. examine this and the accounts are affected thereafter once the
matter has been resolved.
7 I Day 5 page 8 paragraphs A and B I Mr Vasarmy indicates that if a loss has been identified you I This indicates that the sub postmaster does have the ability to
start looking into the system to find out what has search through all of the previous transaction logs to identify where
happened, you have to go through the whole day's the error has come from. Further the sub postmaster is in a
transaction logs to see what could possibly have gone position to chase the business customer in respect of any
wrong. transaction which could have been incorrect in order to rectify this
problem. It shows that the sub postmaster does not have to simply
accept all of the losses.
8 I Day 5 page 52 paragraphs A and Professor McLachan (the independent expert) states that I This is of relevance as it indicates that the transaction corrections
B either the sub postmaster can say that they would like a can be requested by either the sub postmaster or someone within
transaction correction to correct my account or anyone the post office. This is to ensure that the transaction is corrected
within the post office who finds something that doesn’t and evidence is provided to the relevant parties to remedy this.
match up can request this transaction correction.
9 I Day 5 page 58 paragraph G The expert indicates that you are able to obtain a This indicates that you are able to identify how much stock you have
snapshot of the cash positions in respect of payments during any given trading period so the sub postmaster is able to
such as cheques, traveller's cheques, vouchers and check with their own records what stock they actually have and
stamps for any given trading period. what stock the system believes that they have.
10 I Day 6 page 62 paragraphs C and A snapshot from Horizon - it tells you how much cash, The Horizon system allows the sub postmaster to have a snapshot
D how much stock or how much stock that each till should of exactly what their tills should be showing at any given moment.
have. Therefore the sub postmaster has the ability to check their stock
against that they physically have in their drawers at any given time.
Therefore they can check any errors before they arise.
11 I Day 6 pages 10 and 11 (Day 6 pages 10 and 11) Examples of transaction The sub postmaster is able to request transaction correction details
Day 6 page 70 paragraph F
Day 6 page 156 paragraphs E, F
and G
Day 7 page 28 paragraph F
corrections issued.
(Day 6 page 70 paragraph F) Evidence shows that Mr
Longman issued two transaction corrections relating to
Camelot National Lottery to the sub postmaster.
“When I asked for more information, a whole bundle
from the post office. The post office will then provide a print out
from the Horizon system detailing the error and the manner in
which it has occurred. The sub postmaster has an opportunity to
discuss this with the post office or ask them any questions
surrounding this should they wish to. There is no fault with the print
outs which are provided by the Horizon system to the sub
postmaster. This provides them with all the details in respect of the
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came in. You had the evidence, you could have asked transaction in question.
them to explain it to you.”
Recalibration of Horizon computer screen
12 I Day 4 page 87 paragraph B and E I There have been independent tests in the screen. If the screens have been independently tested it is unlikely that the
Horizon system will have any defects as there will be no need for an
independent individual to side with Post Office on such matters.
13 I Day 4 page 137 paragraph A I think you would have found out a lot earlier in respect of I If the screen happened to be mis-calibrated for any reason the sub
the calibration because if you are regularly using the postmaster would have identified this at an early stage as it would
screen and it is mis-calibrated then you will be hitting the I result in all of the transactions being incorrect and if the sub
wrong buttons all over the place and you are going to get I postmaster still failed to note that a customer was more than likely
very confused and you will end up selling the incorrect to have identified this error.
product.
14 I Day 7 page 28 paragraph H In respect of recalibration the staff noticed when any If recalibration was a problem there would have been a significant
errors were made in respect of touching the wrong number of customers and sub postmasters who reported the same
buttons. There couldn’t have been many mistakes, not error. If recalibration was a real issue then a lot of customers would
enough to make a whole of £115,000. The sub have received the incorrect products. For example when buying a
postmaster would notice it and the customer would notice I TV licence they could have received a book of stamps. The fact that
it. the helpline has not had a significant number of calls in respect of
this indicates that this is not the case.
15 I Day 7 page 73 paragraph C Various parts of the system are independently validated The Horizon system is independently validated thus if there were
not all of them because in some instances there isn’t a any inherent defects they would have been picked up but as yet
body to do independent validation such as the screens. none have been picked up by the independent validators. The
The expert provided us with guidelines for the Horizon Horizon system had strict guidelines to which it was designed to. If
system. This included the design of the screens taking there had been a significant shift from the product which was
account of people's varying experience of computers. designed and the product which had been intended to be designed
then we would have seen significant changes and alterations made
to the Horizon system. However during the period of 1998 to 2006
there were no significant changes made to the Horizon system.
16 I Day 7 page 77 paragraph H The touch screens can shift out of alignment. If that If a recalibration of the screen is required it can easily be done by
happens and the user becomes aware of it then the the sub postmaster. The sub postmaster just needs to simply be
screen has to be recalibrated. alert to the fact that in that, each transaction should be checked
and verified with the customer. It is not a significant error as it can
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easily be corrected whilst the customer is still with the sub
postmaster.
17 I Day 4 page 25 paragraph D,F and I For every transaction there should be a balancing
G
The system used within POL is a double entry system. Therefore
transaction somewhere as the Post Office system is a indicating that the losses which occur within the Post Office do affect
double entry system. The system records for every the Post Office business as a whole they are not just nominal losses.
Nominal losses customer a set of transactions of the items that have
been purchased and then a similar set of transactions
representing the mechanism that has been used to pay
for those transactions.
18 I Day 2 page 57 paragraph E With the system when you scan out the system and scan I The Horizon system scans in the barcodes on the pouches of
the pouch it automatically scans in the amounts and this money. This is then inputted into the Horizon system and reconciles
automatically goes into the cash. the Post Office account. In the sense that if for example £20,000
cash is in the pouch the £20,000 cash using the double entry
system goes into the sub postmaster’s account.
19 I Day 3 page 14 paragraphs F and Where the money is being remitted to a cash centre the POL have detailed photographic evidence of any pouches come in
G
cash centre would have very detailed photographic and the individuals who are dealing with this. Thus there can be no
evidence of the pouch arriving at the cash centre. They issues with anybody taking money out of the pouch or putting
would also have pictures of it being allocated to a additional money in the pouch for any reason.
particular person, pictures of the person opening the
pouch, emptying the pouch and physically checking the
pouch.
20 I Day 3 page 15 paragraphs D,E The sub postmasters can go in and search by product by The Horizon system allows the sub postmaster to keep a record of
andG individual by time frame or individual stock in order to any transactions which have occurred. The sub postmaster has the
find the transactions over the period of time that they ability to go back and check anything which they believe may be
Day 3 page 16 paragraph B wish to look for. Through the Horizon system the sub incorrect at any given point.
postmaster can search for any transactions which have
Day 3 page 18 paragraph B been completed.
21 I Day 3 page 20 paragraphs A,C,D The sub postmasters have to enter into the keyboard The Horizon system permits the sub postmaster to check the
exactly how much money they have got in each denominations that they have in their tills against the
Day 3 page 22 paragraphs D and_ I denomination preferably on a daily basis. This will allow denominations which the computer system believes them to have.
E the sub postmaster to do till balances. The sub Therefore the sub postmaster can continually check the transactions
postmaster is able to do a till balance at any point during I which have been completed in respect of identifying how much
the day as many times as they would like. money they actually have in their tills.
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Horizon is free from defects
22 I Day 3 page 24 paragraph E Many goods have bar codes on them. Every terminal has I Each product or item has a separate bar code therefore making it
a bar code reader. If the bar code is not working the easier for the sub postmaster to input data into the system. This
number for the product can be entered in separately. therefore limits the room for error in respect of manually entering
the product codes.
23 I Day 4 page 12 paragraph H These quotes relate to the design specification of the Provides an indication of POL’s drivers when designing the Horizon
Horizon system and the manner in which this has been system.
Day 4 page 13 paragraphs A and complied with. The Horizon system was designed to be
H simple to use, for anybody without any IT experience.
The system has a series of icons which have pictures to
Day 4 page 14 paragraphs A,C,D represent what is going on. The system is clear so you
and G can see exactly what you have typed in and you are able
to correct it as necessary. The system has been designed
Day 4 page 15 paragraphs B,D,E to be used by individuals who do not necessarily have
and H English as their first language. It has also been designed
to be used by those with disabilities and hearing and sight
Day 4 page 16 paragraph B strains.
24 I Day 4 page 19 paragraph H In Horizon the transactions are “stacked” that is what is Each customer's transactions are collectively stacked up together.
showing if a transaction has already taken place with the Therefore making it easier for both the customer and sub
Day 4 page 21 paragraph G particular customer. When the session has ended with postmaster as at the end of each transaction there will be a sum
the particular customer the sub postmaster presses a which they either need to collect from the customer or give to the
finish button and then they are given an option for the customer. They are then presented with several options of payment
customer to make the payment. from the customer. This ensures that the sub postmaster does not
forget or miss a particular transaction which the customer has
requested to be completed. It also ensures that the correct amount
of money has been given to the customer or taken from the
customer in any given transaction.
25 I Day 4 page 23 paragraphs E and You can effectively key in the amount in pence and the The Horizon system has been designed to simplify matters wherever
F decimal point is there visually but you do not need to possible for the sub postmaster to ensure that it can be understood
actually key it in. by the majority.
26 The Horizon system has a two phase commit technology The two phase commit technology permits the sub postmaster to
Day 4 page 26 paragraphs G and
H
Day 4 page 27 paragraph A
therefore you can be sure that a particular transaction
has either completely been written off or not written at
all.
identify if a transaction has been completely written off and
therefore not gone through the system or if it has gone through the
system. There can be a number of reasons why a transaction does
not go through for which the sub postmaster can later examine the
transactions logs to identify why this happened. The transaction
logs are all available on Horizon and therefore there should be no
reason why the sub postmaster does not know why this happened.
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27 I Day 4 page 33 paragraph F When pouches are sent to Post Office they have a sticky The Horizon system does not simply take the word of the sub
bar code on the front. The sub postmaster is expected to I postmaster in respect of how much money is put in a pouch and if
Day 4 page 37 paragraphs C and keep a record of the bar code which is on the front of any differences do occur the sub postmaster has the opportunity to
E each pouch. When the money arrives at the Post Office sort this out whilst the money is in the suspense account.
the bar code is read by a bar code reader and if there is a
match with how much the sub postmaster says should be
in the pouch then it goes directly into the Post Office’s
account. If the money is short the money is put into a
suspense account whilst it is all sorted out.
28 I Day 4 page 39 paragraphs E and Fastcash — it saves having to key in the whole total. It This is a manner in which the Horizon system aims to simplify
F represents the fact that the entire transaction has been matters for the sub postmaster. It enables them to take a slight
processed by cash and so is like a shortcut to save having I shortcut to identify how much money the customer owes the Post
to type in the amount of cash into the system again. Office.
29 I Day 4 page 45 paragraphs D and The credit card transactions, when they are corrected the I Transactions are seen to fail not necessarily due to a defect by the
E only reason that the transaction would have failed is Horizon system but through the fact that they have been reversed,
because it is settled in another way either by cheque by paid by cheque or thrown in the bin by the sub postmaster.
the transaction being thrown in the bin or by the
transaction being reversed.
30 I Day 4 page 48 paragraph B If the sub postmaster had left it at that and then This relates to the issue which occurred in Calendar Square. The
restarted the position the computer and everything would I Horizon system can often correct its own errors by simply being
have sorted itself out the next day but they compounded restarted. Often the sub postmasters try to correct the problems
the problem by trying to do some further transfers to try themselves. This cannot be seen as a defect of the Horizon system
and sort the problem out. as if the sub postmaster left the system to update itself the
problems would automatically be sorted out.
31 I Day 4 page 133 paragraph H An awful lot of testing was going on. They were working The Horizon system was independently tested across an extended
24 hours a day seven days a week. period of time.
32 I Day 5 page 3 paragraphs A and C I The new sub postmaster, Mr Vasarmy, has indicated that I The new sub postmaster found no system errors with the Horizon
there is nothing that would show on the system that there I system. It is questionable how the previous sub postmaster found
are any problems with it. If there were any problems such serious problems with the Horizon system which have
they were only slight glitches that you wouldn't really subsequently disappeared.
have come up in the system.
33 I Day 5 page 4 paragraphs B and H I The new sub postmaster, Mr Vasarmy stated that the only I If the new sub postmaster is able to indicate the manner in which
problem that he could really remember with the system
was a loose connection. Further he provides a plausible
answer to correct one of the errors which could possibly
have occurred within the post office.
you would rectify a problem then there cannot have been any
problem with the training as both would have received the same
type of training. Further if a loose cable connection is the only
problem which this new sub postmaster has incurred then there is
unlikely to have been any serious issue with the Horizon system.
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34 I Day 5 page 6 paragraphs E and F_I Something has come up after a long time after the event. I The system clearly indicates that you are ‘lagging behind’ so the sub
The new sub postmaster Mr Vasarmy indicates that postmaster is clearly aware that there is some loss which has
although a transaction has come up after a while, you are I occurred. The sub postmaster can then look at their own records to
able to look in your own records and you can find out the I try and attempt to identify where the errors have come from or they
records from the system as the system tells you that you I can request these from the post office.
are playing catch up.
35 I Day 5 page 51 paragraph D Professor McLachan (the independent expert) indicates The manner in which travellers cheques are dealt with via the post
that there is no issue with the traveller's cheques in terms I office do not affect the accounting system.
of affecting the accounts.
36 I Day 5 page 84 paragraph A Horizon system is regularly updated with new releases of I Any errors which are identified within the Horizon system are
software and that when the hardware fails it is replaced. immediately replaced and the system is rolled out to the other Post
Offices. Therefore is there was any significant problems with
Horizon they would be identified and corrected as soon as possible.
37 I Day 6 page 47 paragraph A The sub postmaster was told that there is no time limit inI The training does not require any kind of top up. It is intended for
respect of the training taken. those individuals who are computer illiterate and have had no
previous knowledge of computer systems. Therefore indicating that
the training is of a simplistic nature as the Horizon system is
designed to be accessible to individuals of different knowledge
bases.
38 I Day 6 page 146 paragraph F By receiving the money without putting it into Horizon the I The Horizon system is only able to record the amount of money
account system has no idea that the money has been which has been inputted into the system. If there is money which
deposited. has not been inputted into the system but has come into the post
office, the Horizon system cannot be responsible for knowing that
that money has been put there as it has not been inputted by the
sub postmaster. It is not a defect of Horizon if money is not
inputted into the system, it is a user error.
39 I Day 7 page 30 paragraph B Thirteen months of looking through the data from Horizon I Having reviewed 13 months worth of data if there is no significant
system and "he didn’t find a bean". issue relating to the Horizon system identified then there is unlikely
to be one. The expert examined all of these transactions within that
thirteen month period and found no evidence of this issue.
40 I Day 7 page 75 paragraph C Fast cash - every transaction error involving fast cash The fast cash button did not cause significant issue if the problems
could be resolved by saying that either a cheque was
presented or the session was abandoned so that nothing
went into the system.
were resolved by either (a) a cheque being presented instead of the
failed card or (b) the session was abandoned so that nothing went
through the system in respect of these transactions. Therefore
indicating that the fast cash button does not have any defects.
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