POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
THE POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement on behalf of Post Office Limited
I, Benjamin Andrew Foat of Finsbury Dials, 20 Finsbury St, London EC2Y 9AQ, am
Group General Counsel of Post Office Limited ("POL").
INTRODUCTION
I have made the following interim disclosure statements to the Inquiry on behalf of
POL:
(A)
(B)
(Cc)
The statement produced to the Inquiry on 27 May 2022 ("First
Interim Disclosure Statement");
The statement produced to the Inquiry on 18 October 2022
("Second Interim Disclosure Statement"); and
The statement produced to the Inquiry on 30 November 2022
("Third Interim Disclosure Statement").
I have prepared this fourth interim disclosure statement in response to the request
made by the Inquiry in its letter dated 6 January 2023 ("Fourth Interim Disclosure
Statement" and "Inquiry's January Letter", respectively). This Fourth Interim
Disclosure Statement provides an update on the work currently being undertaken by
POL in relation to hard copy document reviews, in accordance with the format
requested in the Inquiry's January Letter.
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
I am an appropriate person to make this Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement,
particularly in the light of the facts that (a) I made the Third Interim Disclosure
Statements (to which the Inquiry's January Letter relates) and (b) as explained
therein, following the board's appointment of HSF as POL's solicitors, I am ultimately
responsible for instructing HSF in respect of POL's response to each of the requests
made to POL by the Inquiry under Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006 ("Rule 9
Requests"), based on the instructions that I and POL's in-house lawyers, under the
supervision of POL's Inquiry Director, receive from our colleagues in the business
and ultimately the POL Inquiry executive steering committee and board.
In this statement I refer to:
(A) Steps and/or decisions taken by POL in connection with the Rule 9
Requests, including with the assistance of HSF (and POL's other
legal representatives). POL's communications with HSF (and other
legal representatives) were and remain by their nature privileged.
For the avoidance of doubt, any reference to discussions should not
be taken as a waiver of that privilege, whether expressly or
impliedly; and
(B) I Steps taken on behalf of POL by HSF and POL's other legal
representatives in connection with the Rule 9 Requests. For the
avoidance of doubt, any reference to steps taken by HSF and/or
POL's other legal representatives should not be taken as a waiver
of privilege, whether expressly or impliedly.
Where I refer to my beliefs and recollections, these beliefs and recollections are
based on the information provided to me by colleagues at POL, by HSF and by
others that have assisted POL in providing disclosure to the Inquiry.
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
DEFINED TERMS
In this statement, I have adopted the defined terms used in the First, Second and
Third Interim Disclosure Statements. Where I have used additional acronyms and
defined terms, I have set out a definition of each, as I have introduced them.
However, for convenience, I also set out the meanings of these acronyms and
definitions below:
Fourth Interim I fourth interim disclosure statement in response to the request
Disclosure made by the Inquiry in its letter dated 6 January 2023.
Statement
Inquiry's January I the Inquiry's letter dated 6 January 2023.
Letter
Master Re-Indexing I POL's master index that contains items re-indexed as part of
Index POL's phase 3 (re-indexing) Unindexed Items Project.
TABLE CONCERNING POL'S HARD COPY DOCUMENT REVIEWS
In line with the request contained in the Inquiry's January Letter, with input from HSF
and other service providers assisting POL in providing disclosure to the Inquiry, I set
out below an amended version of the table originally included at paragraph 80 of the
Third Interim Disclosure Statement. Further to the Inquiry's request, the table
includes additional rows to address work streams in relation to hard copy documents
not covered in the table at paragraph 80 of the Third Interim Disclosure Statement.
For the avoidance of doubt, as the content of the table in columns one to three of
the table below is replicated from the Third Interim Disclosure Statement,
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
paragraphs referred to in those columns are references to paragraphs within the
Third Interim Disclosure Statement.
Review Review description
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
Update as at 12 January 2023 Total documents Production details'
disclosed to date
Ongoing review of I The indexing, re-indexing and indexing of items
indices related to the I subject to the Escalation Process has been
Unindexed Items I completed by POL. POL has carried out an
Project internal quality assurance exercise (akin to proof
reading) over items indexed/reindexed as part of
stage 3 (re-indexing) and stage 4 (indexing) of
the Unindexed Items Project. This was
completed by POL on 25 November 2022. POL
is also in the process of carrying out a more
formal quality assurance exercise in respect of
these items. This process is still subject to
scoping and, as such, POL is not in the position
to confirm when this process will be completed.
The review of the material in the indices by HSF
naturally follows the completion of the
indexing/re-indexing and any quality assurance
exercise. HSF's review of documents
indexed/re-indexed and quality-assured to date
as part of the Unindexed Items Project is, for the
majority of items, nearing completion. That is
save for the review of documents subject to the
formal quality assurance exercise, which, as
above, is on-going and the items which I refer to
at row 2 of this table below.
There are 32 items that HSF has requested from
indices it has received, but which HSF have not
There are a number of related workstreams set out in the ‘Review
description’ column. I have therefore split the below update into five
sections to address each workstream separately.
POL's formal external _quality assurance exercise of items re-
indexed and indexed in the Unindexed Items Project
Following the completion of the re-indexing and indexing of items, a
quality assurance exercise was planned to help ensure that the indexing
carried out as part of phases 3 and 4 of POL's Unindexed Items Project
was completed accurately, according to the agreed scope.
The quality assurance exercise was split into two stages with the intention
being that both stages would review a statistically significant sample of
the items re-indexed/indexed.
I understand that the first stage involved Oasis (POL's storage provider)
reviewing 350 items (i.e. files or boxes) of material which had been
indexed and 350 items of material which had been re-indexed (700 items
in total). The second stage of the quality assurance exercise is to be
completed by Peters and Peters and will involve Peters and Peters
reviewing 77 items of material which has been indexed and 77 items of
material which has been re-indexed (154 items in total)
I understand that Oasis has shared a draft of the output for the first stage
of the quality assurance exercise and that POL has responded to Oasis
with follow-up questions which require further clarification, which Oasis is.
currently considering. Oasis is due to present to POL the final output of
their quality assurance work by 27 January 2023.
The production number denotes what production the documents identified in this table were made in. The quantity within the identified production may vary given that (i) a different production is required for each Rule 9 Request and some documents,
within a certain workstream have been produced as relevant to more than one Rule 9 Request and (i) on some occasions additional documents not related to the below workstreams were also produced with the documents referred to in this table.
POL00114177ds
POLO0114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
yet reviewed. Once received, the 32 items will be
reviewed for relevance against existing Rule 9
Requests. Any relevant material will be produced
to the Inquiry as soon as possible. From an initial
review, 28 of the items appear to be potentially
relevant to phase 4 of the Inquiry with four
potentially relating to phase 3 of the Inquiry.
As set out further at paragraph 109 of this
statement, I understand from HSF that the
documents referred to in HSF's letter dated 4
November 2022 under the sub-heading ‘Phases
3 [(re-indexing)] and 4 [(indexing)] of the
Unindexed Items Project’, are anticipated to be
produced to the Inquiry no later than 2 December
2022. Of these, approximately three concern
phase 2 of the Inquiry, 12 phase 3 of the Inquiry
and 399 phase 4 of the Inquiry.
I also understand from HSF that documents that
were reviewed by HSF at Winchester Oasis (that
originated from indices in which HSF considered
the material to be potentially responsive to the
Inquiry) on 15 November 2022, resulted in
approximately 7 boxes and 3 files being sent for
scanning and uploading to Relativity. These
documents will be subjected to a further review
against existing Rule 9 Requests and, where
relevant, will be produced to the Inquiry. Initial
analysis suggests that the items that were sent
for scanning are likely to contain material
responsive to Request No. 14 (Question 42) and
Request No. 10 (Question 12) (phase 4 of the
Inquiry).
Subject to the above completing, Peters and Peters is due to commence
the second stage of the quality assurance in the week commencing 6
February 2023.
Once the above process is complete, POL will provide any updated
indices to HSF, who will review them to assess if they contain material
which is potentially relevant to Rule 9 Requests issued by the Inquiry. Any
material identified will be sent for scanning and be uploaded to Relativity.
HSF will then review the documents against existing Rule 9 Requests
and, where relevant, produce the documents to the Inquiry.
32 items requested but not yet received from Indices 14 Documents produced on 6 January
2023,
The review of the 32 items is complete. Relevant documents have been
produced to the Inquiry. Production number: PROD109.
Documents referred to in HSF's letter dated 4 November 2022 under I 413 Documents produced on 30
the sub-heading ‘Phases 3 [(re-indexing)] and 4 {(indexing)] of the November 2022.
Unindexed Items Project’
Production numbers: PRODO93A —
The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have c.
been produced to the Inquiry.
Documents that were reviewed by HSF at Winchester Oasis (that I 12 Documents produced on 21
originated from indices) on 15 November 2022 December 2022
The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have
been produced to the Inquiry.
Production numbers: PROD105A
and PROD105B.
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
Updated pha: jing) index
I note for completeness that since the filing of the Third Interim Disclosure
Statement, POL requested Oasis to insert some additional items into
POL's master phase 3 (re-indexing) index ("Master Re-Indexing Index").
These items had been previously indexed by Oasis directly onto Oasis’
document management software, where the rest of POL's inventory sits,
but had not been included in the offline Master Re-Indexing Index (which
HSF reviews to identify material that is potentially relevanttto the Inquiry).
I understand that the updating of the Master Index had been inadvertently
missed by Oasis.
HSF has reviewed the updated index and requested a number of the
newly indexed items which are considered to contain material which is
potentially relevant to the Inquiry's Terms of Reference to be scanned. Of
the items requested for scanning, approximately seven items appeared
(based on their high level descriptions) potentially relevant to phase 3 of
the Inquiry, 14 items appeared potentially relevant to phase 5 of the
Inquiry and two items appeared potentially relevant to phases 4 or 5 of
the Inquiry. The majority of the requested items have been scanned and
uploaded to Relativity (a total of 1,060 documents).
A review of these documents has commenced, and it is anticipated that
POL will be in a position to provide any documents responsive to Rule 9
Requests in the week commencing 16 January 2023.
I understand that eight items remain to be scanned, and it is anticipated
that such scanning will be completed by Friday 13 January 2023.
Once the scanning of these items is complete, HSF will review the items
against existing Rule 9 Requests and, where relevant, promptly produce
the documents to the Inquiry.
Fujitsu Reports
‘contained on two
CDs identified as
part of Escalation
Process
‘As explained in HSF's second letter of 24
November 2022, POL has recently identified two
CDs containing various Fujitsu reports
‘conceming the period from 2002 to 2006. These
CDs were originally held at POL's Chesterfield
The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have
been produced to the Inquiry.
294
264 relevant documents (as.
identified in Annex 2 of HSF's 30
November 2022 letter) and 30
representative sample documents
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
archives until they were recently moved to the
Oasis archives in Winchester as part of the ‘Lift
and Shift’ exercise described at paragraph 73(a)
of the Second Interim Disclosure Statement. The
CDs contain a total of 39,678 documents, which
reduces to 36,452 once duplicate documents
have been discounted. An initial pool of 20,240
keyword responsive documents of potential
relevance to Rule 9 Request No. 10 have been
identified for review. I am aware that the Inquiry
has separately written to POL requesting various
confirmations in respect of these documents and
that it has requested a response be provided by
no later than 10am on Wednesday, 30
‘November 2022.
(as identified in Annex 3 of HSF’s 30
November 2022 letter)
The above documents were initially
provided to the Inquiry on 30
November 2022 and were then
formally produced on 7 December
2022 under production numbers
PRODOS5A and PRODOSSB.
105 boxes identified
at Chesterfield and
primarily reviewed at
Winchester Oasis on
4 November 2022
and referred to in
paragraphs 64 - 68
of
statement
All hard copy documents identified as being
potentially responsive to Rule 9 Requests have
been scanned and the review of those
documents is complete. POL expects to be able
to provide responsive documentation to the
Inquiry by no later than 2 December 2022. This
will be approximately 127 documents which
largely concem Rule 9 Requests relating to
phase 4 (118) as well as ten documents that
concem phase 3 of the Inquiry (one document is
relevant to phases 3 and 4 of the Inquiry)
‘As explained in more detail at paragraphs 66 ~
68, POL is currently in the process of conducting
‘a sample exercise in relation to the electronic
‘materials and intends to write to the Inquiry
further in this respect once further details are
known.
There are two related workstreams set out in the ‘Review description’
column. I address each workstream separately below.
Hard copy documents identified in the 105 boxes identified at
Chesterfield_and_ primarily reviewed _at Winchester Oasis on 4
November 2022
The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have
been produced to the Inquiry.
127 documents produced on 2
December 2022 and 19 documents
produced on 14 December 2022
Production numbers: PRODO94A
and PRODO94B (2 December 2022)
and PROD099 (14 December 2022).
Electronic documents identified in the 105 boxes ident
ied_at
Chesterfield_and primarily reviewed _at Winchester Oasis on 4
November 2022
Paragraph 66 of the Third Interim Disclosure Statement sets out a list of
the electronic materials found within the 105 boxes of hard copy material
identified at Chesterfield in October and November 2022. I replicate that
list below and provide a summary update in respect of each.
(A) Five boxes of CDs
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
The five boxes contained a number of CDs, the majority of which are
encrypted.
I understand that, with respect to the non-encrypted CDs, these have
been considered by HSF, either by reference to their labels’ description
or, where the CD's labelling suggested that the content of the CD may be
relevant, the content of the CD itself. With one exception (which 1
understand has been identified as responsive to Rule 9 Request 14),
these CDs have been determined not to be responsive to any existing
Rule 9 Request. I understand that HSF is liaising with KPMG in order to
produce the CD that was considered responsive to the Inquiry.
In respect of the encrypted CDs contained within the five boxes, I
understand that HSF provided a sample of 40 of the encrypted CDs to
KPMG (POL's e-discovery provider) in order that KPMG could apply
software in order to attempt to decrypt the content of the CDs so that it
could be accessed and reviewed.
By 19 December 2022, 30 of the 40 CDs had been processed by KPMG.
and software had been deployed such that potential passwords had been
applied to them with a three-hour time-out (meaning the software
automatically moved onto the next CD in the queue if it had not been
possible to identify the applicable password in a three-hour period). The
software deployed by KPMG did not identify passwords for any of the 30
CDs.
Asa result, the time-out process was increased to six hours. By 3 January
2022, the software used by KPMG to attempt to decrypt the 40 CDs had
been running for two weeks, with a six-hour time out period applied for
each CD and over 11 billion passwords checked. I understand that the
software deployed by KPMG did not identify passwords for any of the
CDs.
As a result, POL has instructed KPMG to make a further attempt to
decrypt one of these CDs with no time-out. To the extent that exercise is
successful, in circumstances where many of the CDs appear from their
description to be ofa similar nature, it may be that any password identified
can also be applied in relation to other encrypted CDs. It is anticipated
that this process will run for one month. POL will update the Inquiry once
this process is complete. I understand from KPMG that, given the
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
‘Sophistication of the encryption used, their view is that itis unlikely that
the software will be able to identify the relevant passwords.
(B) Three boxes of VHS recordings
HSF has completed the review of all the VHS tapes contained within the
three boxes and has determined that none are responsive to the Inquiry's
Terms of Reference (on the basis that the VHS tapes contained CCTV
footage and some training materials regarding the security of sub-
postmasters’ physical offices)
(C) Five boxes of MiniDV tapes and audio cassette tapes
As stated in paragraph 67 of the Third Interim Disclosure Statement, the
labels attached to the materials contained in these five boxes were
reviewed by HSF and none were identified as being responsive to Rule 9
Requests issued by the Inquiry to POL.
(D) Two boxes of back-up tapes (previously referred to as cassettes)
POL has provided a sample of eight back-up tapes to KPMG for analysis
to determine the contents of the same.
Given that KPMG does not have the requisite hardware and software to
access the backup tapes, KPMG are in the process of instructing a sub-
contractor to undertake an exercise to see if itis possible to read the back-
up tapes to understand what information may be available. Once
structed, the sub-contractor will be asked to create inventories of all
tapes and perform a header scan on all tapes received to determine the
Back-up Software used (and to check for the presence of encryption). It
is anticipated that this process, once started, will take approximately eight
business days but I understand that this timeframe could change once the
data typesivolume of data for restoration is known.
Any indices created during the above process will be reviewed to consider
the content of the indexed tapes, where possible. POL will write to the
Inquiry in due course with an update on the proposed review of the eight
tapes referred to above, and the other remaining tapes previously
lentified.
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
Chesterfield
documents recently
identified and
referred to in
paragraph 60(0) of
this statement
These documents will be sent to Winchester
Oasis. As explained in paragraph 60(D), these
documents do not, from an initial review, appear
to be relevant to the Inquiry's Terms of
Reference. Nonetheless, the documents will be
indexed, and HSF will review the indices. Where
potentially relevant material is identified, that
‘material will be subjected to further review for
relevance against existing Rule 9 Requests and,
where relevant, produced to the Inquiry.
The items referred to at paragraph 60(D) of the Third Interim Disclosure
Statement were indexed. The relevant indices were then reviewed by
HSF to assess whether they contained references to material of potential
relevance to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.
(One item was identified as being potentially relevant to phase 3 of the
Inquiry. This item was scanned and, as a result, 761 documents were
uploaded to Relativity and reviewed by HSF against existing Rule 9
Requests. I understand that HSF has completed this review and did not
identify any relevant documents to be produced to the Inquiry.
Documents recently
identified at POL's
Swansea site (see
paragraphs 71 - 73)
HSF conducted an initial high-level review of
‘one box of documents identified at the Swansea
site as being potentially relevant to the Inquiry.
From this review, a small number of documents
were sent for scanning so that they could be
reviewed further against existing Rule 9
Requests.
It is anticipated that POL will produce seven
documents from this review by no later than 2
December 2022: five documents which relate to
phase 3 of the Inquiry and two documents which
relate to phase 4 of the Inquiry. There are five
items which are still in the process of being
reviewed though do not appear to contain
‘material responsive to Rule 9 Requests received
from the Inquiry. When POL has completed this
review, the documents will be, where relevant,
produced to the Inquiry.
The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have
been produced to the Inquiry.
12 Seven documents produced on 30
November 2022 and five documents
produced on 22 December 2022.
Production numbers: PRODO93B
(five documents) and PRODO93C
(two documents) (30 November
2022) and PRODO97 (22 December
2022).
Documents recently
identified at POL’s
Birmingham Midway
(see paragraphs 74
-76)
Approximately 20 boxes and ten mail sacks
have been identified at Birmingham Midway as
potentially relevant. These documents will be
indexed and transferred to Winchester Oasis.
The items referred to at paragraphs 74-76 of the Third Interim Disclosure
Statement have been indexed. The relevant indices have been reviewed
by HSF to identify any items which may contain documents potentially
relevant to the Inquiry's Terms of Reference.
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
SF will review the indices. Where potentially
relevant material is identified, that material will
be subjected to further review for relevance
against existing Rule 9 Requests and, where
relevant, produced to the Inquiry.
The items identified during the above process have been scanned and
uploaded to Relativity (a total of 224 documents).
HSF is in the process of reviewing these documents against existing Rule
9 Requests and I understand that POL should be in a position to provide
any responsive documents to the Inquiry by 13 January 2023. . My
understanding is that this is likely to require the production of 16
documents, which are responsive to Rule 9 Request 14.
For completeness, I note that the updated index referred to above has
also been provided to Peters and Peters. I understand that Peters and
Peters requested documentation from the indices that they considered
may be relevant to the aspects of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference that
they are assisting POL with.
‘Some of the items requested by Peters and Peters remain to be scanned.
I understand that it is anticipated that these items will be scanned by
Friday 13 January 2023, and I am informed by Peters and Peters that
POL should be in a position to produce any relevant material to the Inquiry
in the week commencing 16 January 2023.
Documents recently
identified at Belfast
Oasis
As set out in paragraph 77, 12 boxes were
moved to Belfast Oasis from Londonderry on 1
November 2022. These items are currently in the
process of being moved to the Winchester Oasis
site. The items have been indexed and HSF will,
where appropriate, review the indices. Where
potentially relevant material is identified, that
‘material will be subjected to further review for
relevance against existing Rule 9 Requests and,
where relevant, produced to the Inquiry.
The review of these documents is complete. The material was reviewed
by POL and the material was not considered to be relevantto the Inquiry's
Terms of Reference.
Review of 5 files
appraised by the
Postal Museum
which were not
scanned
This review is complete. As set out at paragraphs
49 — 51 of this statement, five files (consisting of
192 documents) which POL requested for
scanning from the Postal Museum in July 2022
were missed in the scanning process. HSF has
reviewed these items and determined that one of,
these documents should be produced given its
relevance to phase 2 of the Inquiry. POL expects
The review of these documents is complete. The one document identified
as relevant has been produced to the Inquiry.
Document
November 2022
Production number:
produced on
PRODO93D.
30
POL00114177ds
POLO0114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
to be in a position to produce that document by
2 December 2022.
9. I Review of three As explained in paragraphs §2~ §3 above, As set out at paragraph §3 of the Third Interim Disclosure Statement,
additional Postal _I three files that were the subject of the Postal _I this review is complete. No documents were responsive to existing Rule
Museum appraised I Museum's appraisal process were identified as_ I 9 Requests issued by the Inquiry to POL.
files requiring review against extant Rule 9
Requests. That review is now complete and
none of the documents were responsive to Rule
9 Requests.
10. I Documents from Subject to the further assurance exercise I set I The review of documents as set out at paragraphs 83 ~ 86 of the Third
Finsbury Dials out below, the review of the documents Disclosure Statement is complete and no documents were identified as
identified in the steps addressed at paragraphs _I responsive to Rule 9 Requests issued by the Inquiry to POL.
83 — 86 of this statement from Finsbury Dials is
complete and no documents have been I set out in row 16 an updated position in respect of POL’s hard copy
identified as responsive to Rule 9 Requests. assurance exercise,
11. I Horizon files POL is currently engaged in a process to scan I The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have I 391 363 documents produced on 21
fed byRMG I and upload 78 files which were recently identified I been produced to the Inquiry. December 2022 and 28 documents
(by RMG) as relevant to Horizon to Relativity for produced on 6 January 2023.
review.
Production numbers: PROD103A —
It is anticipated the documents will be scanned L (21 December 2022) and
by 30 November 2022 and POL will produce any PROD108A - C (6 January 2023).
responsive documents as soon as it is possible
thereafter.
12, I Rule 9 Request No. I / understand that HSF has requested that the I The review of these documents is complete. Relevant documents have I 9 Documents produced on 14
28 (Question 2)
Postal Museum provide it with any copies of
POCL minutes it holds dated from the mid-1980s
to the mid-1990s (for the purpose of Q2 of Rule
9 Request No. 28).
POL also intends to review the Horizon files
provided by RMG (described at row 11 above)
for POCL minutes, alongside carrying out further
electronic searches.
been produced to the Inquiry.
December 2022
Production number: PROD100.
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
13. I Omnidox Review I The Omnidox review is ongoing. itis anticipated I The review of these documents (as explained in further detail in our letters I 487 18 documents produced on 14
that the final production of relevant documents to I dated 14 November 2022, 25 November 2022 and 9 December 2022) is November 2022, 235 documents
the Inquiry will be made on or before 9 December I complete. Relevant documents have been produced to the Inquiry. produced on 25 November 2022 and
2022 (as per the indication I gave in relation to 234 documents produced on 9
the same in the Second Interim Disclosure December 2022
Statement).
Production numbers: PRODO83 and
PRODOB4 (14 November 2022),
PRODO90A and PRODOGOC (25
November 2022) and PRODO9Ba-d
(9 December 2022).
14, I Identification of hard I POL was yesterday notified by its lawyers in the I The five boxes of hard-copy materials that Womble Bond Dickinson
copy documentation
gathered as part of
the GLO
GLO, Womble Bond Dickinson, that they had
identified a further batch of five boxes of hard-
copy materials relating to the GLO in the course
‘of Womble Bond Dickinson's business-as-usual
archiving of physical files. The discovery of these
items prompted Womble Bond Dickinson to carry
out further investigations which identified a VHS
cassette and some material that had already
been archived as being hard copy
documentation that may be relevant to the
Inquiry. I understand it is possible that such
documentation already exists on the Relativity
platform constituted as part of the GLO, however
it is not possible to confirm the position without
further analysis. In any event, I understand that
based on the information available at present, it
does not appear that any of the documentation
relates to phase 2 of the Inquiry.
POL will take steps to request that Womble Bond
Dickinson gather the documentation and i) take
steps to assess whether itis on POL's Relativity
platform and/or ii) arrange for it to be scanned
and uploaded to Relativity. HSF will then
consider such documentation and provide any
identified (totalling 243 documents) have been scanned and provided to
KPMG for POL's review. However, I understand from Womble Bond
Dickinson that there have been technical issues with the transfer of a
number of these documents which were only resolved on 10 January
2023. POL understands from the descriptions provided of this material
that they may contain documentation which potentially relates to Phases
3, 4, and 5 of the Inquiry. POL is in the process of preparing its review of
these documents, which it hopes to complete in the week commencing 16
January 2023, with any documents responsive to Rule 9 Requests issued
to POL being produced to the Inquiry.
With respect to the VHS cassette, I understand that, upon review, it did
not contain any material relevant to the Inquiry (on the basis that that the
VHS cassette apparently consisted of footage of postal trucks reversing
into depots and damage being caused to depot doors).
With respect to the remaining material identified by Womble Bond
Dickinson (which amounts to 51 boxes comprising approximately 125 to
175 lever arch folders), I understand that Womble Bond Dickinson is in
the process of manually reviewing the documentation to assess whether
POL is entitled to it and, itso, scanning this material. I understand that the
scanned material will be transferred to POL's Relativity platform for further
review by HSF against existing Rule 9 Requests (to the extent that it does.
not duplicate material already held by POL),
Womble Bond Dickinson anticipates that its manual review will be
completed by Friday 13 January 2023, with the scanned documents being
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
Item:
Tesponsive documents to the Inquiry as soon as
possible.
6 not referred to within the table at paragraph 80 of the Interim Disclo:
made available to POL the following week. As at 10 January 2023, 27 of
the 51 boxes have been reviewed. I understand that Womble Bond
Dickinson considers that the documents within the boxes so far reviewed
are documents that POL is not entitled to or are not otherwise to be
transferred, for example, because the documents are documents which
have been previously provided to POL by Womble Bond Dickinson.
Pending completion of Womble Bond Dickinson's manual review,
scanning and transfer to POL of the documents, POL will conduct its own
review and will provide any documents identified as relevant to existing
Rule 9 Requests to the Inquiry as soon as possible.
sure Statement
15. I Review of Tim I understand that certain documents were identified in a locked filing One document produced on 20
Parker documents cabinet within Tim Parker's former office. Following an initial review of the December 2022 and 2 documents
documents, one document was identified as being potentially relevant to produced on 11 January 2023.
Rule 9 Request 30 and was produced to the Inquiry on 20 December
2022. Production numbers: PROD104 (20
December 2022) and PROD110A
The balance of the material that was considered to be potentially relevant and PROD110B (11 January 2023),
to the Inquiry's Terms of Reference has been reviewed.
Following this review, 2 documents have been identified as being
responsive to existing Rule 9 Requests and have been produced to the
Inquiry
16. I POL's hard copy As set out in further detail at paragraphs 199 — 123 of the Third Interim
document audit
Disclosure Statement, POL is in the process of carrying out an assurance
exercise in relation to its hard copy document repositories. As set out in
that statement, physical site visits are scheduled to occur at POL's
Finsbury Dials, Birmingham Midway, Bolton, Chesterfield and Swansea
sites, with a paper assurance exercise being conducted on the balance of
POL's operated sites,
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
POL has completed its main physical search of its Finsbury Dials office,
with approximately 80 boxes identified as containing material which has
been identified as potentially relevant to the Inquiry's Terms of Reference
(including documents relevant to later stages of the Inquiry). In addition,
during the course of the physical audit, I understand that additional
electronic material (such as hard drives and CDs) was identified for further
analysis.
I understand from the team that undertook the physical search of Finsbury
Dials that, based on that initial review, itis anticipated that there is likely
to be a degree of duplication of documents that have previously been
harvested by POL. Of that hard copy material identified, I understand that
POL's initial review has indicated that four items may fall within the scope
of phase 2 of the Inquiry and 21 are considered as potentially relevant to
phase 3 of the Inquiry (though, based on a high level description of those
items prepared by Innovo Law (POL's independent search expert), it is
unlikely that a significant proportion of these documents will be responsive
to Rule 9 Requests issued to date). Documentation which may be
relevant to the other phases of the Inquiry was also identified, and POL is
in the process of taking steps to arrange for all potentially relevant
documents identified to be scanned and uploaded to Relativity (with
documents which appear potentially relevant to earlier phases of the
Inquiry being prioritised). Oasis has informed POL that it anticipates that
ithas capacity to complete this scanning by the end of January 2023,
HSF will then (using a combination of search terms and linear review as
appropriate) review the documents against existing Rule 9 Requests and
POL will produce any responsive documentation to the Inquiry as soon as
possible on a rolling basis.
Following engagement with relevant trade unions relevant to POL
employees, POL will include personal lockers within scope of the search
exercise. The team carrying out the search anticipates returning to carry
out the review of personal lockers identified at Finsbury Dials during the
week commencing 30 January 2023.
POL anticipates completing its physical review of its Swansea,
Birmingham Midway, Chesterfield and Bolton sites by the end of January
2023. As above, any potentially relevant material identified will be
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
‘Scanned and uploaded to Relativity. HSF will then (using a combination
of search terms and linear review, as appropriate) review the material
against existing Rule 9 Requests and POL will produce any responsive
documentation to the Inquiry as soon as possible on a rolling basis.
For POL’s other sites, at which POL is conducting a detailed paper-based
assurance exercise, the process will involve asking for information on the
documents held at those sites from the relevant site personnel by the end
of January 2023. I understand that spot check physical reviews will then
be conducted at a sample of these other sites to ensure that the
information provided by the paper-based assurance exercise is accurate.
Any potentially relevant material identified via the paper-based exercise
or ensuing spot checks will be scanned and uploaded to Relativity. HSF
will then (using a combination of search terms and linear review, as
appropriate) review the material against existing Rule 9 Requests and
POL will produce any responsive documentation to the Inquiry as soon as
possible and, to the extent necessary, on a rolling basis.
17. I Additional assurance
in relation to
documents held by
Oasis
It has recently come to my attention that, of the approximately 144,000
items (being boxes or folders or documents or other media) held by Oasis,
623 items have, since 2013, been checked out (i.e. removed) from Oasis’
repositories but have not yet been checked back in (i. returned). My
understanding is that records indicate that 340 of these items were
originally sent to either HSF or Peters and Peters, who have previously
requested the items from POL in respect of the work they are engaged
with for POL. POL is taking steps to attempt to retrieve items which have
been checked out should it be necessary to consider them for relevance
to matters being dealt with by the Inquiry. Of the 623 items thought to be
currently held outside Oasis’ sites, I understand that, based on a review
of the high-level descriptions of these items, four items which it is
understood are not held by HSF or Peters and Peters may contain
documents which are potentially responsive to the Rule 9 Requests
issued by the Inquiry. POL is considering its own locations and liaising
with its external advisors in order to locate these items. To the extent that
items are recovered which it is considered may contain documents
responsive to Rule 9 Requests received from the Inquiry, such documents
will be reviewed and, if relevant, produced to the Inquiry.
In addition, I note that a small number of entries on the Oasis Indices are
recorded as ‘pending add’. I understand that the categorisation of pending
POL00114177ds
POL00114177ds
Fourth Interim Disclosure Statement
12 January 2023
‘add'is given to items, based on their barcode, which are to be collected
and stored. The ‘pending add’ categorisation is then updated once the
item is in fact collected for storage. As these items still have the
categorisation of ‘pending add' I understand that this could reflect the fact,
that certain items that were scheduled to be added to the Oasis Indices
were never actually added to storage or, the items were added to storage
but the barcodes for the items were recorded incorrectly, meaning that
the ‘pending add’ categorisation was not immediately updated. POL is
taking steps to investigate the whereabout of these documents,
Statement of truth
I believe the content of this statement to be true.
Signed:
Dated 12/01/2023