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Post Office Group Litigation
Confidential and legally privileged advice WOMBLE
Do not disclose, forward, scan or copy BON D
DICKINSON
DRAFT Mitigation Actions
This mitigation paper should be read alongside the Risk Assessment Table that explains the risks associated with the issues to be decided by the Court at the
trial in November 2018.
This paper groups those risks under 4 headings:
Legal Privilege
‘D. Business transformation
It sets out the mitigation actions that could be undertaken by reference to four categories of change:
Contractual
Horizon
Operational
Communications
eeee
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A. Recovery of losses
Risk: Post Office is unable to recover shortfalls in branches unless it can prove a Subpostmaster is at fault.
Risk Assessment Issues: 1, 12, 13, 17 18 and 19
TYPE OF PROPOSED CHANGE ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES / CHALLENGES RECOMMENDATION:
CHANGE ACTION NOW?
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Horice based investigation
approach as per Sparrow/
Support Services Resolution
Team(SSRT) ie. end to end
from issue/discrepancy being
flagged/identified to findings of
investigation being produced
and shared with spmr/branch.
Full root cause analysis done
by SSRT when a branch flags a
discrepancy.
approach will piece together
what has or rather what has
not happened in branch in a
timely manner with a high
degree of accuracy so Post
Office can establish whether
there has been a shortfall
and, in many cases, its likely
root cause.
By sharing the investigation
findings with spmr/branch,
Post Office can reach a final
position more quickly
resulting in increased
recovery of losses from
spmrs by showing that they
are at fault
Legal P
Horizon Blind cash declaration required I Greater visibility of losses in I Cost of Horizon system change and associated Yes. Recommendation is that
so to reduce risk of false branches for Post Office, training for branches and support functions. this proposed change is
accounting. thereby reducing build-up of scoped further to determine
large losses that need to be system and operational
recovered. feasibility and associated
costs.
Operational Introduce as best practice a This type of investigation Increase in SSRT headcount to do the Yes. Approach recommended
investigations determined by the volume of
investigations required.
Branches could become reliant on POL establishing
whether there was a shortfall or not and as a
consequence no in-branch checks and investigation
is done by the branch as it is today.
In light of success in Court, spmr refuses to
accept findings.
rivilege
as best practice with
implementation subject to cost
v benefit analysis.
Recommendation is that this
approach is scoped, costed
and implemented asap.
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Legal Privilege
Legal Privilege
Communications I Communicate to branches that I Spmrs may continue to pay Negative media coverage if Post Office is seen to I No. Dependent on judgement.
Post Office is appealing any shortfalls. be ignoring a Court decision.
adverse Court decision and that
the decision should not be
followed until the appeal is
heard.
Communications I Communicate (in conjunction Spmrs may continue to pay Negative media coverage. No. Dependent on judgement.
with the NFSP) that if spmrs do I shortfalls.
not pay losses the network is
not viable so they should keep
paying losses.
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Legal Privilege
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Legal Privilege
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D. Business transformation
Risk: Post Office's rights to vary its contracts and operational practices are curtailed. Its exercise of contractual powers are fettered.
Risk Assessment Issues: 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 15 and 24
TYPE OF PROPOSED CHANGE ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES / CHALLENGES. RECOMMENDATION:
CHANGE ACTION NOW?
Legal Privilege
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