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The 2 Anomalies
1. Two anomalies were voluntarily communicated to SS as part of the review.
2. The “62 Branch Anomaly”:
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affected 62 branches (13 Crowns; 12 Multiples; 37 Subpostmasters)
concerns a Receipts and Payments mismatch in HNG-X when discrepancies
were moved into the local suspense account (i.e. the account which
aggregates all discrepancies into a single gain or loss for a branch trading
period).
first appeared in March 2010.
majority of incidents occurred between August and October 2010
branch losses ranged from £777.96 down to 34p.
identified by Horizon’s built-in checks and balances which are designed to flag
up these types of discrepancies.
could have been identified if the subpostmaster had carefully scrutinised
his/her Final Balance Report.
17 subpostmasters were adversely affected, i.e. had a loss attribute to their
branch.
subpostmasters notified in March 2011 and (where appropriate) reimbursed.
subpostmasters who made a gain through the anomaly were not asked to
refund this.
reason for delay in notifying subpostmasters:
i. priority and distinction from other service issues that were happening
at the time of the HNG rollout;
ii.complexity of understanding the root cause; and
3. The “14 Branch Anomaly”:
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financially impacted 14 branches (4 Crowns; 5 Multiples; 5 Subpostmasters)
concerns an error where historic accounting entries in the 2010/11 financial
year were replicated in accounts for 2011/12 and 2012/13.
first notified to Post Office Limited in January 2012
raised by 2 subpostmasters affected by the anomaly.
5 subpostmasters were adversely affected, i.e. had a loss attribute to their
branch.
Post Office Limited suspended attempts to recover known losses from
affected subpostmasters.
Letters to notified subpostmasters will be sent out imminently
the worst loss to a branch would have been £9,799.88. This was one of the
first cases notified, so no recovery action was progressed. Other losses
ranged from £113.14 down to a penny.
reason for delay in notifying subpostmasters:
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i. irregular occurrence - it took over 12 months to realise that this was
an error in Horizon rather than an error by subpostmaster or Post
Office Limited;
ii. very few branches materially affected.
Modifications have been made to rectify the 62 Branch Anomaly, and will be made to
rectify 14 Branch Anomaly.
None of the subpostmasters affected by either anomaly have been prosecuted over
it.