POL00090612 - Postmaster Litigation Update report (Executive Summary)
Evidence on official site
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FICE LIMITED PAGE 1 OF 2
Postmaster Litigation - Update
ate: 34 luly 2028
Meeting
Executive Summary
CONFIDENTIAL AND SUBJECT TO LEGAL PRIVILEGE
Context
AS part of the Postmaster Litigation, the claimants are seeking to have a number of
between them. Regular updates on progres
gation Sub-Committee, as well as to the Board.
There are no decisions required, however I propose to provide verbal updates on the
following:
* Sta Ss upcate an the Court proces:
sure In the Accounts
Contingency planning
Review of Settlement Options
eee
Conclusion
Court Process
1. Weare currently f involved in:
witness statements that will be used in the November Cornmon
® progressing the application for security for costs; and
« working with our IT expert to develop the matters that will be the subject
matter of the March ‘Horizor’ hearing.
Disclosure in the Accounts
2. There is significant work underway with Ernst & Young regarding the scape of the
disclosure regarding the Postmaster L fon asa contingent Hability in the 2017-
18 Accounts. There is a risk thet EY may seek to include a ‘Matter of Emphasis’
regarding the litig in their Audit Report. We have not yet seen any suggested
drafting, so are currently unable to comment on the impact such a approach might
have
Contingency Planning
3. We have prepared a short table (attached) which applies a fairly simolistic ‘RAG’
status to the various outcomes and which will assist the update on contingency
planning. This was discussed at the Board Litigation Sub-Committee in early July
and work is underway to develop the responses to all iterns that are ‘red’ rated for
either Likellhood or Impact. A further update will be provided to the Board in
September, We are also due to provide an update on the litigation, and in particular,
the contingency slanning to Alex Chisolm, Permanent Secretary of BEIS, on 10
September.
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is reviews.
viiar to those in the
delivery of the CC
4, The CCRC has recently advised POL that if is nearing completion o
However, given that the CCRC’s reviews fouch on issues
Postmaster Litigation (in particular with respect to Horizo
findings is likely to be delayed by that litigation.
Settlement Options
5. The Court expects
the Comm:
he decision, some or all of the issues between the parties ‘could E resolved.
$s too early to be able to set the content for those dis cussions, we are looking
I r Oo ensure
availability of appropriate mediators and get them pre-' 1 sriefed as to the likely nature
of the ar as of d fe Sion
rece ot of the Claiman nce: this i fikel y “to be ; avai i
i ember, Following receipt of that opinion, we will consider whether there
are options for settlement of some or all of the issues as between Post Office and
some or all of the Clafmants.
Input Sought
The Board is requested to Note the Update
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Board 3.
* july 2018 ~ Raw wa om
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
First phase
» assess likelihood and impact of implied terms
* ‘Likelihood’ is legal advice on prospect of winning/losing each issue
* ‘Impact’ is business impact of that decision
* RAG rated
* No items thet are both red for L & I; high L = low!
2nd phase
4 ‘buckets of remediation activity:
e Contract changes
Not recommended before decision
Activity in train - we are working up the end to end approach to make any necessary
changes fo the contract or to serve notice on the existing contract and re-contract
on a new version. This will ensure we are ready to respond quickly to the judgement.
« iT system changes
© Some in train now ~ others TBC
2 Activity in train - we have identified sorne potential changes te Horizon that should
reduce errors and losses in branch: improve the in-branch customer experience; and
in turn reduce Post Office support costs. We are assessing the system and
operational feasibility and associated costs of these changes.
*® Qperational changes
© Some in train now
o Reviewing recommendations made post Sparrow (mediation & complaints scheme)
© Phased implementation
© Wemade a number of enhancements to aur training offer post Sparrow and more
recently we been reviewing to ensure that these are still fit for purnase. In paraliel
we have been trialling new methods of error and loss detection, investigation and
having more direct and transparent dialogue with postmasters on these.
* Communi
OQ. Pre es ~~ bath pre & post decision
o Regardiess of the judgement how we communicate internally and externally will be
critical, We are therefore preparing our reactive and proactive messages so that we
are as best placed as possitie ta manage the stakehoider and media landscape.
©
fe
g to UKGI on 10 September (Alex Chisolm& potentially new minister} - ‘rehearsal’ this
Thursday
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