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jeceove il coal Ut
"D8 AUG 2003 Jan
MrALeihto: : Alan Bateg
Chairman. Ro; ml Mail Group ple . Craig-y-don Post Office
148 Old § reat : : 21 Queens Road
LONDON * Craigey-don
ECLV 9B} LLANDUDNO
T1380 1AZ
7™ August 2003
Dear Mr] cighton.
Tam writi te you with regard toa letier I have just received from Post Office Limited
giving tie formal notification of their decision fo in ii
As Chair an of the
should be aware of
us not onl losing our business ™
Unlike the Jt Oflice Ido not have endless finds to fight this injastie through the couris,
butI do fhe meats mpeatve for as many people as possible have an opportunity feos he
in detail fe ay mageent style applied by Royal Mail Grouip to the very public face of the
local Post Office, eis again tying to use what seems tobe so often devaibed ca ng .
Outdated ‘ Stal nistic? management approach, in order to bindgeon its will onto the poor
My only daferee, until T can find an organization willing to offer support, is to enisure that
the media aid all those politicians who represents award with a subpostoftice, as well as I
éveryone ‘vho rans a subpostoftice or uses one, has an Spportuuity to read alll the facts. To j
that end these documents enclosed and others will shortly be available online, once the . i
hoarding» sr the front four building advertising our Website www-pastofficevictims, 1
is teady in we or so, Originally Thad registered www. posto! ictim.me.uk to ‘use, but i
as the lau ch syill undoubtedly bring up many other cases from across the country it was i
thought a iargr and Jess Personal site would be more ‘appropriate, !
RVENOTIVUEdO GIT od .
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— aN
'bposte aster Citig-y~don Post Offige
SS ...
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HVENOTIV@I0 aut os
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PO LID OPERATIONRAI,
Notes Accompanying the correspondence
relating tothe furrent situation
‘Which Post Office Limited wants me to accept financial liability for. In the early day 3 it was
Rot uncommon to spend an our on the telephone to the ‘helpline’ trying to looae Pi tes of
i i pada the end of that time just give up, Nowadays there are very fin cillets
the ‘helpling? fo try and locate data, mainly because both we and they now itis not feasible
to it. :
Knowledge of these Systems than I did and could Tot access the data any fiwther thar, Iwas
able, Eventually these shortages were bundled up and left in a ‘suspense accom it? vutil they
could be resolved and a series of'leiters IBLIC ID. 1B 18 TF show the progres and the
é ion. My personal belief based on my experiences and from Storles I he: x, is that the
Post Office are having considerable Problems with the Horizon Software, and th sw s
ly days,
Over the years the Horizon system been upgraded and ‘improved, andis possi ly: nore
robust than when it first appeared as it does allow some data to viewed, albeit is @ Ji-nited
Way. have made endless telephone calls, Spoken to many people, written man Iet ers and
have only received an occasional scknowledement of my commenis, and vary fw bi writing
regardless of the strenuous efforts T have made, There have been numerous Perionr sf
changes of those Tam responsible to, orin Correspondence with, and almost no structured
approach to management that I can take sense of. So if the letters enclosed ar ral it
disjointed, that is probably why, : ;
Retumting to the current issues, these begat witha letter received ftom Mike Wikel - dated
14° Apr 2003 that I Tesponded to on 16" Apri 2003, which in turn brought he lett or dated
2" May 2003 afer which I sent my letter dated 15" May 2003 in response, See iter g
24.2B.2G%, 2C% 2D, sO :
Boo.
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sone ave pa!
PO LED OPERATIONEAN Boor
Paragraph 2 of the Post Office letter dated 24 May 2003 (2C4 2Cil) states “Nes ertt less F
ust point ont that you are Bound by the Terms and Conditions of your Contra ayer
Services, which was acknowledged by You on the 31 March 2003, when accept ig} our
appointment”. .
ior acknowledged no Contract for Services on fhe 31 March 2003, T did howe yer,
acknowledge a Contract for Services on the 31 March 1998, a copy of hic is:
attached, items 3A 3Bi 3B. BHT
ise aes bt think tis important seth ways we ave been wate Over other
issues, and there are numerous other examples I could supply you details with,
Retuming again to fhe Cuctent issue, paraeraph 3 of the Post Office letter dated 2 May 2003
(2G) refers to Section 12 ot the Subpostmaster contract. A copy ot Section 22 satached,
3A.5B.5C, 5D, .
Thave also included a letter I wrote dated 13" February 2002, itetn 6, which gies surther
insight into the problem as Well as a copy of the letier 5 August 2003, items 7i, Tit, 9 which
Post Office Limited have issued the three months notice which I do Hotrecogniie a; Lam
clearly notia breach of ny contract,
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Mr A Bates
Craig y Don Post Office®
21 Queen's Road
Craig y Don
LLANDUDNO
LL30 1AZ
20,08.03
Dear Mr Bates
Thank you for your letter dated 7” August addressed fo Allan Leighton,
Chairman Royal Mail, which has been forwarded to me for reply.
I have now completed My enquiries into the issues you have raised
and, have spoken with a number of the personnel involved in the
search for a solution to the situation at Craig y Don Post Office®,
Although I regret that the situation has reached the point of termination
of your contract, I am confident that the various teams concerned in the
events have worked hard to Provide support and assistance to you ina
consistent and sympathetic manner. This support included a number
of on site support visits to assist with balancing and also extra training
on the Horizon system. The aim was always that of achieving a solution
to the difficulties you were experiencing in managing transactions and
processes at Craig y Don Post Office® branch,
' ‘The Sub Postmaster contract is clear on the requirement that
postmasters must make good losses or gains made when misbalances
occur and to bring error notices to account appropriately. It is evident
you have consistently refused to do this, even when specifically
Tequested to do so by the Area Management team. The Horizon
system at Craig y Don Post Office® has been reviewed and
interrogated in response to your complaints, and the reports from both
the Horizon Field Support team and the NBSC have confirmed that
there is nothing inherently wrong with the Horizon system installed at
the branch.
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In the circumstances I feel that the termination of contract notice must
stand and can confirm your last day of service will be 5! November
2003,
Yours sincerely
Ria MacQueen . @
Case Liaison Manager
Post Office Ltd.
Operations
i
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IN CONFIDENCE Celtic Court,
Mr A Bates Tremains Road,
Subpostmaster BRIDGEND
Posi: Office Lid® CF311TZ
21 QueensRoad
CRAIG Y DON Telephone GRO
Llandudno .
L128 4PS
: 27 October 2003
Dear Mr Bates
Tam writing following our telephone conversation of today, 27% October 2003. I can confirm
that your decision not to grant permission for an interim service atrangement from your
premises has been noted, .
We will now proceed with the closure as previously advised.
Yours sincerely
MIKE WAKLEY
Retail Line Manager
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36716 °63 i4:4g RN W?S BRIDGEND aL
Mr Mike Wakley : Alan Bates :
Post Office Limited The Wool Post - ~
Celtic Court Craig-y-cion Post Office
‘Tremaines Road Queens Road
BRIDGEND LLANDUDNO
CF31 1TZ LL30 1AZ
29" October 2003
Dear Mr Wakley : @
! write in response to you letter wo October 2603, } can confirm 7 was not asked 10 provide interim
service atrangement at these premises,
The decision to currently deprive local residents of post office services in Craig-y-don is that of Post
Office Lid alone and no oneelse.
Aes
G RO
hoc Bales; —e Craig-y-Don Post Office
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IN CONFIDENCE Celtic Court,
Mr A Bates Tremains Road,
Subpostmaster BRIDGEND
Post Office Ltd® CF311TZ
21 Queens Road :
CRAIG Y DON Telephon
Llandudno
1128 4PS
. 80 October 2003
Dear Mr Bates
Thank you for your lette# dated 29th October 2003,
Inreply to your letter, I wish to refer you to my letters dated Qna September 2003 and
19% September 2003 Concerning interim arrangements at Craig y Don Post Office to
which you failed to reply to by the given date,
Yours sincerely
MIKE WAKLEY
Retail Line Manager
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Christine Randall Alan Bates :
Implementation Support Craig-y-don Post Office
Post Office Ltd 21 Queens Road
8" Flo or, Lionel House Craig-y-don
86 Lionel Street LLANDUDNO
BIRMINGHAM LL30 1AZ
B3 1HQ
6" November 2003
Re Craig-y-don Post Office
Dear Ms Randall
As Ihave not teceived a reply to my letter dated 2g! October 2003 and as the Post Office
terminated my contract on 5" November 2003 I would be obliged if you would arrange for the
collection of all Post Office stores, Tecords and materials from our premises by Friday 14%
November 2003, . :
Should you fail to meet the deadline for the collection of all your materials by that date I will then
invoice you for the Tental of the storage place taken'up by Post Office Ltd materials at a rate of £1
Permailsack per week,
Yours sincerely
Alan Bates :
Subpostmaster Craig-y-don Post Office
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Celtic Court
Tremains Road
Bridgend
CF31 1Tz
29 October 2003
Mrs Betty Williams MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SW1A 0AA
Your ref : C2331/41024
Dear Mrs Williams,
I have been asked to reply to your letter of 22 October 2003, to Allan Leighton
about Craig y Don Post Office® branch temporary closure, °
2003. The branch will Close for business at 17.30 on 3 November, to enable
Us to complete a final audit and decommission the branch the following day
before his contract expires, ; :
Itis not our wish to see this branch close, and ever since we gave Mr Bates
notice, we have been seeking a response from him as to whether he would be
Selling his business (thus allowing us the Opportunity to continue the Service
from the same location, albeit with new Subpostmaster) or if not whether he
would be willing to make his Premises available for temporary replacement
whilst a permanent appointment could be made. We have a Person ready to
Step in as temporary Teplacement, but it was only this week that Mr Bates
finally informed us he Was not willing to allow this fo happen.
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Meantime, we have been advertising for a permanent replacement and
currently have several interested parties with premises in the immediate
vicinity. Unfortunately, it will not be possible for any of them to be ina position
to take over on 5 November, indeed it is unlikely that anyone will do So until
the New Year, But! am optimistic that we will be able to make an
appointment very saon. :
I acknowledge the concerns of your constituents about the temporary
withdrawal of service. Indeed several have written directly fo us in similar
vein. Please assure them we have been, and are doing, all we can to
control that is not possible, If you personally can bring any pressure to bear
on Mr Bates to allow the temporary use of his premises, I would be grateful as
this would prevent the interruption of service we are facing. Meanwhile, we
are ensuring that facilities and staffing are increased at the main branch in
Vaughan St to Cope with the extra business caused by the Craig y Don @
closure. .
I will ensure you are informed when a permanent appointment is made, as we
will be consulting about the change in premises. Meantime, please let me
know if I can help further.
Yours sincerely,
DAVE BARRETT
Head of Commercial Urban Area
Wales, The Marches and Merseyside
"GRO Mobey “GRO i: