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Post Office Ltd Security
Governance of Investigations
1. Background:
1.1 Properly conducted investigations form a key part in the
Post Office strategy in protecting assets and reducing loss.
In commencing any investigation consideration needs to be
given on the impact in terms of the protection of business
assets and limiting potential liabilities weighing against the
reputation of the organisation or damage to the brand should
the investigation not succeed. Post Office Security is almost
unique in that unlike other commercial organisations it is a
non-police prosecuting agency and is therefore subjected to
the Codes of Practice and statutory requirements of the Police
and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).
1.2 There is another anomaly that sets it aside from other
commercial investigators. Of the 11,800 branches, only 370 are
currently staffed by employees of the Post Office. In the
majority of cases branches are either franchisees or agents
who receive remuneration. As neither is deemed to be employees
of the Post Office, the usual practices and procedures of an
employer employee investigation do not apply.
1.3 In cases where fraud is uncovered and good evidence of
criminality exists, a criminal investigation will invariably
commence. At the same time Post Office Contract Advisors have
the responsibility to ensure that any contractual breaches are
investigated and any impact on the business is minimised to
maintain Post Office services.
1.4 With this in mind the security team must be seen,
internally as well as externally, to be acting fairly,
appropriately and within the law. The investigation needs to
be properly conducted to establish evidence that will support
a successful criminal prosecution.
2. Investigation
2.1 It is important to consider the aims, objectives and scope
of the investigation as not all involve criminality; the
security team may be called upon to investigate employees
under the grievance and disciplinary procedure, flag case with
potential to damage the reputation of the business where
senior stakeholders have an on-going interest. The decision on
whether to open an investigation is normally undertaken by the
team leader, in conjunction with other stakeholders, including
contracts managers and or other senior stakeholders if
required.
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2.2 The decided course of action needs to be proportionate and
necessary and where appropriate to consider other actions that
could be done that would not lead to a criminal investigation,
including pursuing a civil enquiry for breach of contract,
civil debt recovery, training review refresher, briefers,
additional auditing, a caution, warning letter and or National
Federation of Sub-postmaster (NFSP), engagement.
2.3 In all cases where a loss has been identified and a sub-
postmaster has been suspended a case conference should be
arranged with the contracts manager at the earliest
opportunity to allow for an exchange of information and
understanding of expectations and direction the contract
manager is planning in relation to the conduct. Where
suspending the sub-postmaster is considered the security team
must provide a detailed explanation outlining the rationale
supporting the request.
2.4 Arrest by the police may be justified on the basis that
there are reasonable grounds to suspect an offence has been
committed and there are reasonable grounds for believing that
the arrest is necessary. The statutory criteria for what may
constitute necessity are set out in para 2.9 of Code G PACE.
Inviting the subject to the police station to obtain legal
representation may not be effective as the person concerned is
at liberty to leave at any time. The security team should
direct the investigation appropriately to remain in control of
the evidential process without jeopardising the subject’s
legal rights.
3. Governance:
3.1 The Investigations Governance Forum: is responsible for
the strategic and tactical governance of all live case
work/criminal investigations involving Post Office.
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Head of
Security
‘Member —
ancial —
‘Tean Leader I I Team leader Financial
“Operations Operations Investigator
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3.2 Case-file management: From the point the case is first
raised team leaders should give due consideration to the
merits of a criminal and/or other investigation as noted in 2
above.
-Team leader > Security manager: Case file assigned and
investigations undertaken
-Security Manager > Team Leader: Investigations completed and
passed to team leader for quality assurance.
-Team Leader > Post Office Legal and Compliance Team (POLCT):
review and decision made whether further progression required
with the case. If no further action the file is returned for
closure and filing. If further enquiries are required file
returned to the security manager to progress.
-POLCT > Solicitors (Cartwright King): If the decision is to
proceed with the prosecution case the file is the forwarded to
Cartwright King for advice on charges. (In some instances
POLCT will put charges together).
-Cartwright King > POLCT: Cartwright King will prepare advice
and charges for the case (or advise no further action). If
further enquiries are required they will contact the Security
Manager direct, copying in the team leader and send an advice
detailing the further enquiries. The advice along with charges
and case file is then sent back to casework.
-POLCT > Head of Security: The file is forwarded to the
designated prosecution authority (DPA) for authority to
proceed. The DPA will review the case file and decide whether
to proceed with the advice given or not.
Head of Security > Team Leader: The file is the forwarded back
to the Team Leader.
Team Leader > Security Manager: The file is returned with
advice and charges submitted in the case file for the security
manager to proceed. On completion of the enquiry, the case
file will be submitted to the Head of Security via the team
leader for authority to close.
3.3 Security Operations Team Structure
Corporate Services
Director
{Legal Counsel)
n
I
Head of Security
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Senior Security Manager
Operations
I
Senior Security
Programme Manager
Financial Investigators Security Programme
x3 Managers X2
Case-work admin Security Manager
X2 X19
3.4 Case-file management:
Further Action
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