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From: The Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot, M.P.
oF
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA 0AA
Interim report welcomed — a step along the way
James Arbuthnot MP today welcomed an interim report prepared by independent
investigators, Second Sight, into a series of cases involving Sub PostMasters, the Horizon
system and Post Office work processes.
He said:
‘I welcome this report. It does highlight some real issues of concern, some of which the
Post Office has already addressed, some of which they are putting forward today to
address, and some which remain unresolved. It is fair to say that in terms of the number of
sub-Post Offices throughout the country and the sheer volume of the transactions they
process each day, the proportion of sub-Postmasters affected by these problems is small.
Nevertheless, we must never forget that some Sub PostMasters have had their lives
devastated by the things the investigators have unearthed.
Iam impressed with the way the Post Office has behaved on this matter. Since the first
approach from our group of MPs, it has acted with forthrightness and transparency and has
agreed both to support and fund the investigations. It clearly wants to get to the bottom of
what has gone wrong. I want to put on record my thanks to senior staff who have made
this happen.
At the moment the evidence seems to be that the Horizon software itself is working as it
was meant to. I hope Sub PostMasters will welcome this news. However, the problems
investigators have discovered point to the need for further work. These problems involve:
The way the Post Office has investigated concerns
Instances of unreliable hardware
The absence of proper training and support of Sub PostMasters
An exceptionally complicated system used within the Sub Post Office
A business model which might be seen as unfair towards the Sub PostMaster in that
any faults or issues with the system give rise to a liability on the Sub PostMaster
rather than being a risk to be carried by the Post Office
e Anunresolved question about alterations by the Post Office of cash balances in the
back office accounting system and the consequences of such alterations
The Post Office has proposed three solutions to these problems. I welcome these solutions,
and look forward to working with other MPs to review how each is progressing in the
autumn. These solutions must address the concerns around the criminal and civil liabilities
that some Sub Postmasters have incurred, liabilities which might have been avoided had the
new procedures now being followed or proposed been in place.
That said, I am very keen indeed to ensure that the proposals work and are seen to work
independently of Post Office control. If this can be achieved, we are on the way to a fully
transparent, new Post Office which will have the full support of its staff and the public.
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Finally I would like to thank those many people who have been working tirelessly to reach a
resolution of this truly difficult and sometimes heart-rending issue. Those people include
Alan Bates of JFSA, Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson of Second Sight, Kay Linnell, an
independent forensic accountant, Shoosmiths solicitors, a large number of Members of
Parliament who have kept the pressure on, and very far from least, Alice Perkins and Paula
Vennells of the Post Office and their staff, who have throughout done their best to reach the
right answer. While we are not yet quite there, we are on the way.
8 July 2013: for immediate release.
For further information please telephone Janet Walker on;
janet.walker¢~