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Investigator’s Manual
Version 1.1 I Security Classification I 19/09/2023
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Contents
1, Foreword ...
2. Scope...
3. Introduction...
4. Who will operate using this manual?...
5. Roles and Responsibilities...
6. The Triage Process..
7. Conduct of the Investigatior
7.1 Case Types.
7.2 Evidence Collection and Lines of Enquiry
7.3 Gathering and Analysis of Evidence
7.4 Document Heavy Evidence Reviews...
8. Interviews.
Principle 1...
Principle 2...
Principle 3
Principle 4
Principle 5...
Principle 6
Principle 7
8.1 Witness Interviews...
8.2 Witness Statements
8.3 Subject Interviews (Non-criminal cases)
8.4 Conducting Interviews in Accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)..
9. External Enquiries ....
10. Disclosure.
11. Assurance...
12. Providing evidence.
Appendix A..
Assurance & Complex Investigations and Speak Up Team
A.1 Speak Up and A&C! Triage Process
A.2 Opening an Investigation.
A3 Conduct of Investigation
A.4 Report Writing
AS Case Closure.
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Appendix
Contracts Team...
B.1 Contract Performance.
B.2 Contract Suspension
B.3 Contract Termination...
Appendix C...
C.1 Disputes Resolution Team Triage Process...
C.2 Opening an Investigation.
C.3 Case Closure...
Appendix D..
Network Support and Resolution...
Network Monitoring..
D.1 Network Monitoring Process.
D.2 Opening an Investigation.
D.3 Report Writini
D.4 Case Closure.
Appendix E...
Branch Reconciliation...
E.1 Branch Reconciliation Stock Process...
E.2 Opening an Investigation...
E.3 Report Writing,
E.4 Case Closur
Appendix F....
Disclosure...
F.1 Non-criminal Case Disclosure Considerations......
F.2 Disclosure Criminal Case.
F.3 Disclosure in Civil Cases..
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1. Foreword
Chief Executive's Endorsement
The Post Office is committed to doing things correctly. Our Values and Behaviours represent the
conduct we expect. This expansive and detailed manual, it’s guides, andtemplates supports those of
our colleagues charged to help us ensure the highest standards of integrity, proper behaviour, crime
prevention, detection and case management are maintained.
Investigation Champion's Endorsement
This manual should help anyone carrying out an investigation at Post Office to ensure fairness,
consistency and professionalism in everything they do. Please keep it close to hand in any
investigation and follow its guidance wherever appropriate. Alongsidethat, good judgement,
common sense and integrity are necessary elements of every decision and courtesy, patience and
respect are essential behaviours in every situation. We will be judged both by what we do, and also
how we do it.
Group General Counsel’s Endorsement
Post Office Investigators play an important role at Post Office. They are required to bring objectivity,
fact-based assessments so that the organisation can better understand all aspects and perspectives
of a particular issue. Critically, they are champions of fairness; not champions of Post Office as
reflected in our mission:
Build trust with Postmasters, Post Office colleagues, our shareholder, the courts, partners, and
the public by undertaking ethically executed, evidence-led, and transparent investigations
which can withstand scrutiny by applying empathy, objectivity, best practice, applicable laws,
and guidance.
The tools within this manual will greatly assist the members of the Post Office Investigation Branch
in their task of professionally, consistently, and effectively delivering this intent.
I expect Post Office investigators to actively contribute to ensuring that the tools, approaches, and
processes in this manual evolve to always represent the best-in-class in how we deliver
investigations. By ensuring this is a living document that is applied daily we will go a long way
towards achieving our mission. It is crucial that Post Office has learnt from its mistakes in the past as
reflected in the Bates and Hamilton judgments and this manual will help ensure that poor
investigation practices at Post Office will never be repeated again.
2. Scope
This manual has been established to set the operating standards, guidance, and useful templates for
the management and conduct of internal investigations throughout thePost Office Group (the
Group). Internal investigations are a part of corporate governance, and this manual focuses on
controls to conduct an effective internal investigation. Compliance with this manual supports the
Group in meeting its business objectives including the proper management of risk, and its
commitment to act professionally, proportionately, fairly and with integrity in its business dealings
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and relationships through the implementation and enforcement of effective systems to protect its
business.
This manual is intended to compliment the Group's Policies. In particular, this manual should be read
in conjunction with the Group Investigations & Co-operation with Law Enforcement Policy, the
Investigation Branch Control Framework and the Speak Up Policy.
Grievance investigations conducted by the People teams which have their own established controls
and procedures are outside the scope of this manual.
3. Introduction
This manual is intended to provide clear guidance on the considerations that must be made when
conducting investigations. It is not intended to be a training manual for Investigators. The manual
prescribes the professional standards which the Group expects of all those that undertake
investigations on its behalf.
Whilst there are many actions that must be undertaken due to legal and policy requirements it
remains that large parts of the investigative process rely on discretion, good judgement and
professionalism.
This manual cannot provide the answers to every investigative question. However, the guidance
within will provide a handrail to ensure that key considerations are followed. Sections 1 to 12 and
appendix F are generic and apply to all (see section 4 below) Appendices A to E provide specific
instructions for the team named at the top of each appendix.
4. Who will operate using this manual?
This Manual applies to:
i. any fact finding into conduct or process evaluation activity that does not fall within any
other policy, guidance or law (such as Suspicious Activity Reporting or the work of
Internal Audit) but does fall within the definition of an investigation;
ii. the conduct of investigations originating from the Speak Up service and any subsequent
provision of materials to law enforcement but does not remove or alter confidentiality
undertakings; and
iii, all situations and teams within the Group when engagement with law enforcement or
prosecutors is contemplated or entered into which does or may include the passing of
material in the Group's possession to those agencies.
This Manual does not apply to People Policies, which contain specific procedures that have been
agreed with the relevant trade unions. In such cases, those responsible forconducting investigations
under the local Policy and/or specific trade union-agreed procedures, whilst always having regard to
the overarching principals of this manual, must follow any prescriptive procedural requirements of
the applicable local policies and/or trade union procedures.
Where those procedural requirements are weaker measures than those set out in this manual, or the
investigation is into a potential Speak Up concern this manual will take precedence.
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5. Roles and Responsibilities
For information relating to the key roles and responsibilities of those charged with oversight,
managing and conducting investigations see section 5 of the Group Investiaations & Co-operation
with Law Enforcement Policy.
* Triage Teams collate information/intelligence/referrals for their respective team. They may
develop the information/intelligence/referral further before considering the merits of the matter
and will decide whether to progress to an investigation within their respective team or to
reassign the matter to a different Triage Team. Each Triage Team have their own bespoke criteria
for acceptance of a case. For more information on how each team triages matters see appendices
A to E of this manual
* The Commissioning Manager has overall responsibility for each investigation and appointing an
Investigation Officer. In consultation with Investigating Officer the Commissioning Manager will
agree the scope of the investigation, what resources are to be made available to the Investigating
Officer, the strategy(ies) to be followed during the course of the investigation ad agree an
indicative timeframe for the completion of the investigation. The Commissioning Manager will
liaise with the People team as required.
The Investigating Officer (IO), irrespective of team, is responsible for carrying out investigations
and for any other tasks delegated by the Commissioning Manager(s), such as reporting and
liaising with stakeholders on a ‘need to know’ basis as set out in this Manual. The IO will:
i. Produce an investigation strategy and plan. The purpose of an investigation strategy is ta
«identify the most appropriate line(s) of enquiry to pursue
«determine the objective of pursuing particular lines of enquiry
« identify the investigative action(s) necessary to efficiently achieve the objectives, taking
into account resources, priorities, necessity and proportionality
e direct and conduct investigative actions to gather the maximum amount of material which
may generate further lines of enquiry
The strategy may evolve over the life cycle of the investigation and therefore, may need to be
updated periodically.
An investigation plan sets out the order and timeframe that lines of enquiry/actions will be
pursued.
ii. Follow all reasonable lines of enquiry which point towards and/or away from the working
case hypothesis.
What amounts to a reasonable line of enquiry will always involve considering the facts of,
and the issues in, the case including any defence raised. It is important that any enquiry is
proportionate, reasonable and necessary. This involves consideration of
e what is expected to be found through the enquiry, to determine what is reasonable in the
circumstances;
* how best to seek that information/material, taking a proportionate approach; and
* being able to explain why it is needed.
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Record and retain all material relating to the investigation include material generated by
the 10.
Section 10 of this Manual and Appendix E provides detailed guidance on disclosure
obligations.
iv. Consider what additional resources may be appropriate e.g. use of Branch Assurance
Auditors, Tier 2/3 Analysts, Relativity etc.
For more details on how and when to use Relativity see section 7.4 of this Manual.
v. Produce and maintain an Action and Decision Log.
All investigative decisions must be recorded along with the rationale applied when making
the decision along with the date the decision was made and by whom. If new
information/evidence comes to light which results in a previous decision being superseded,
then a new decision must be recorded on the Decision Log explaining why the previous
decision has been amended and the rationale for the revised decision along with the date of
the revised decision and by whom. The first decision must not be amended nordeleted from
the log. All actions must be linked to a decision.
It is a matter for each team how decisions and actions are recorded and for those teams who
simply follow a rigid process a tick box may be sufficient. Regardless of how decisions and
actions are recorded, investigators should be mindful that their decison and action log are
potentially disclosable and if the validity of the investigation were to be called into question
in the future, the Decision and Action Log would be considered as key evidence.
vi. Ensure that advisors are consulted as appropriate, this may include but is not limited to
other teams, subject matter experts, internaV/external lawyers, product owners etc.
vii.
Immediately bring to the attention of any relevant decision maker, their Line Manager and
the Commissioning Manager any material which tends to undermine the case for POL or
supports a contrary view.
viii. Produce relevant reports and management information in line with local agreed protocols
(see appendices A to E for local protocols).
6. The Triage Process
A triage process is essential for all investigations teams with finite resources. The purpose of triage is
to capture information for the organisation and then consider the relevant priority, necessity and
proportionality of potentially conducting an investigation based on the information received. Those
performing a triage role should also consider their team’s objectives, strategies and approaches as
well as available resource.
Each investigation team's triage process is set out in the relevant Appendix to this Manual.
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7. Conduct of the Investigation
7.1 Case Types
POL performs a range of investigation types from seeking to understand the sequence of
transactions with the Postmaster through to providing the police with evidence of an alleged criminal
offence. However, there are common activities and approaches thatan investigator could apply and
follow.
7.2 Evidence Collection and Lines of Enquiry
Considerations
7.2.1 Intrusion - Investigations by their very nature are intrusive and can be at odds with an
individual's right to a private life (article 8 of the European Convention Human Rights). This is
particularly so when it comes to the gathering of evidence. It is, therefore of the utmost importance
that when gathering evidence consideration is given to whether intended lines of enquiry are both
justified and proportionate. You must consider less intrusive lines of enquiry first before considering
more intrusive means. For example, when investigating a relatively minor discrepancy in a branch
cash declaration it may be justified and proportionate to review trading figures and cash declarations
over the previous three months. However, more intrusive lines ofenquiry may not be either justified,
nor proportionate.
It may be the case that having concluded the proposed line of enquiry and analysed the resulting
information/evidence, concerns remain. At this stage it may well be both proportionate and justified
to conduct more intrusive lines of enquiry. The decisionto follow such an approach must be recorded
in the Decision and Action Log with a clear rationale setting out the basis for the decision.
Therefore, when considering a particular line of enquiry IOs must consider whether their proposed
actions are:
Justified
Authorised
Proportionate
Auditable
Necessary
The decision as to whether or not to pursue a particular line of enquiry must be recorded on the file
with consideration to the JAPAN mnemonic.
In summary, lines of enquiry should be restricted to lowest level of intrusion necessary that will
provide the information sought, must be proportionate to the level of required intrusion and the
seriousness of the matter under investigation.
7.2.2 Legal Gateway
When gathering evidence IOs must be alert to and be able to identify the gateway they seek to rely
on when obtaining evidence. For example, if the evidence is ‘open source’ information such as
Companies House etc. then no specific gateway may be necessary, although the enquiry would still
need to be recorded on the Decision and Action Log. If the evidence is Group data then no specific
gateway may be necessary although the IO would need to show that they are authorised to make
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such an enquiry, their actions are necessary, justified and proportionate and that a record of the
enquiry is being retained, for example obtai
subject(s).
ing email correspondence without the knowledge of the
Enquiries relating to information/data which is not in the control of the Group or cannot be classified
as ‘open source’ and relates to restricted or private information is known as ‘closed source’
information. To access this information, you will need toprove to the controller of such information
that there is a legal gateway which provides the data controller with a means to lawfully share the
information/data with you. The mere existence of a legal gateway for sharing such information does
not compel the data controller to share the data with you unless the data control is compelled under
some other legislation or court order. If the data controlled is not compelled by law or a court order
to share the information with you then it is for you to convince the data controller that your request is
JAPAN and they may release the information/data to you on a voluntary basis via the legal gateway.
7.3 Gathering and Analysis of Evidence
7.3.1 Continuity of Evidence
The way defence counsel may seek to scrutinise the exhibit is by bringing into question or doubt the
continuity of evidence. The continuity of evidence is often referred to as the ‘chain of evidence’ which
in simple terms is the way the evidence has been handled from the moment that it is found, seized, or
produced to the point that it is presented in court as an exhibit. In order to effectively ensure the
continuity of evidence an !O will need to be able to demonstrate the following:
* Who obtained / produced the item;
« Where the item was found;
« Where the item was located / produced;
* The time and date that the item was obtained;
« Where the item was placed after it was obtained; and
What has happened/who has handled the exhibit between it being obtained and its production in
court.
In order to achieve this, information must be recorded on the evidence bag and a witness statement
will need to be completed.
For more information see the City of London Police’s Guide to Seizure of Exhibits.
7.3.2 Telephone Conversations/Conference Calls
Telephone conversations and/or conference calls all form part of the evidence gathering process. It
is, therefore, important that a permanent record isretained of what has been said and by whom as
the record may become an exhibit or if not an exhibit but is ‘relevant’ will be disclosable. Templates
are available to record notes of telephone calls and conference calls which have not been recorded
by the Puzzle system/Teams calls.
7.3.3 Sources of Evidence
Post Office Group is a vast and diverse organisation with numerous data sources and information
streams. Below is alist of potential sources of intelligence/evidence that the IO may wish to consider
when conducting investigations. The circumstances of each investigation are unique and the list is
not intended to be definitive; it is a guide and the IO should use theirown judgement, experience and
expertise when identifying potential evidence sources:
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Types of Offences/Subject/ I Investigative I Guidance
Investigation I Source of Methods
investigation Available
Stamp Theft/Fraud/Loss CCTV CCTV — Requested via Grapevine. CCTV
reversals NOMAD needs to be considered early in the
HORICE investigation to ensure the footage is not
CREEDANC lost. This evidence, if available, is likely to
CFS CTV be key, particularly in a criminal case. In
this instance it will need to be formally
recovered in accordance with police
evidence standards from the source and
formally exhibited. This should be
obtained by the relevant Police Force
investigating, but POL investigators may
need to ensure it is secured/saved.
In addition, ensure there is sufficient
duration of footage as context is essential—
cases can be Lost if only the actual incident
is captured without showing the full
context before and afterwards. Best
practice is to get long periods of footage as
it can be edited and placed in the unused
material should it be later relied upon on in
subsequent proceedings.
NOMAD
HORICE
CREDENCE
CFS
Drop & Go Theft/Fraud/Loss CCTV CCTV - As above
(Parcels) NOMAD
HORICE
CREEDANCEC
FS
Cash (Inc Theft/Fraud/Loss CCTV CCTV - As above
Scratch cards, NOMAD
shortfalls) HORICE
CREEDANC
CFS
ATM Theft/Fraud/Loss CCTV CCTV - As above
NOMAD
HORICE
CREEDANC
CFS
Parcels & Theft/Fraud/Loss CCTV CCTV - As above
Letters NOMAD
HORICE
CREEDANC
CFS
Pouches Theft/Fraud/Loss CCTV CCTV - As above, but in addition also
NOMAD. consider CVIT body / vehicle camera
HORICE footage.
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CREEDANC _I Interviews — In criminal cases interviews
CFS will be conducted in accordance with
P6 Police & Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) and
Interview under caution. In most cases conducted by
the Police who are leading the
investigation and supported by A&CI
investigators if required. Interviews under
caution can be conducted by trained A&Cl
personnel.
Accountability I GE CCTV CCTV - This may be relevant and should
Business Unit NOMAD be requested via Grapevine (If available)
HR/ER HORICE and recorded in the D&A log with
Legal CREEDANC __I supporting decision and rationale.
Speak Up CFS P6 Request - In nearly all cases it is
P6 appropriate to retrieve emails/chat/files in
Interview/ support of this type of investigation in
Discussion order to seek an accurate and balanced
view from relevant stakeholders. A P6
request should be submitted with
supporting rationale in addition to an entry
in the Decision and Action Log.
Employee interviews — Not under caution
or audio recorded. Respondent(s) may
have somebody present to assist including
a Union Rep. In nearly all cases there
should be two investigators present and an
interview plan prepared and agreed by a
supervisor. Complex cases should be
conducted in a similar way to PEACE
interviews using similar investigative
interview techniques (See Investigation
Manual for further detail)
Fact find GE P6 request for I P6 request — Although P6 requests are an
investigation Business emails, Teams I option in Fact Find investigations emails
Legal chat and files must in all cases be requested directly
Speak Up (From POLIT I from the individual(s) in the first instance.
and If there is justification, then a formal P6
employees) request can be submitted with supporting
justification and rationale. This should also
be recorded in the Investigation Decision &
Employee Action Log.
discussions (In I Employee discussion — In person, ideally
person or via with 2 investigators (One to take notes) or
MS Teams) via MS Team using the enabled transcript
option with the agreement of the person
participating in the discussion. Discussions
should not be audio recorded.
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The following Systems/Databases are maintained by POL:
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System/Database Used for For reference only (R) I Access from
or may be used as
evidence (E)
Convercent Case management E Speak Up and Intelligence Manager
system
Credence Viewing Horizon logs E Service Now
for branches including
sales and non-sales
data.
Dynamics Customer care, branch E Service Now
support & financial
crime cases
NaSA Snapshot View branch info such R Network Design and Analysis Team
as address, AM,
contract advisor
Qualtrics Customer feedback ? Head of Customer Experience
Branch Insights View branch info, R Branch Insights Manager
Tool recent dynamics cases,
AM notes, cash and
sales data
FRE Drop & Go account info ? FRE Project Manager
Mimecast Email searches E Information Rights Team
Quatrix File sharing E Service Now
Web3 (S2S) Cost Centre info. E Procurement Performance & Operations
Procurement, orders, Manager
receipts.
Branch Analysis Cash decs, dynamics R Drew Mason
Review Tool (BART) I cases, audit history,
TC's etc.
NOMAD/FREDD-O I Branch profile, non- R Drew Mason
sales data, branch
details, smart ID, audit,
dynamics cases etc.
Stock Landing Branch stock info R Drew Mason
Dymension Grapevine case ? ?
management system
Horice Transactional data E David Southall
from the Horizon
system (branch
specific)
Ingenico Banking data (banking E Tracy Middleton
transactions with
partial card numbers)
Puzzle Admin Call recordings E Dean Whitehead — Service and Support
Analyst
EUM Smart ID details E i.
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CFS / SAP Core Finance System - E ?
Customer accounts;
ATM data; cash
remittances, provides
more in depth
information in CFS.
when compared to
Credence/BART/NOMA
D
7.4 Document Heavy Evidence Reviews
7.4.1 Relativity eDiscovery and Disclosure
For more complex cases or matters where it is anticipated that there will be a high volume of
documents for review, consideration should be given to the use of the Relativity software application.
Relativity is a sophisticated document management system which allows for the searching of key
words, tagging and linking of documents to produce evidence bundles and the grouping of
documents to align with the disclosure obligations as set out in theCriminal Procedures Investigation
Act (CPIA) 1996 and the Attorney General Guidelines 2022 (A_G Guidelines) which apply in criminal
case.
If Relativity is not being used to manage disclosure the IO or Disclosure Officer (DO) (who can be the
same person) will set out in the Investigation Strategy how they propose to manage disclosure. See
Appendix F of this manual for further guidance on disclosure.
7.4.2 How to Open a Workspace in Relativity
If you are considering using Relativity speak to the Head of A&Cl in the first instance or a A&CI Senior
Investigations manager.
7.4.3 Considerations when Creating a Workspace in Relativity
Relativity offers the facility to design a complete bespoke workspace capable of dealing withinfinite
number of unique documents in most formats. When working with Relativity there are three Stages:
e Design Stage
eDiscovery and Analytics Stage
* Bundling Stage
7.4.4 Design Stage
To get the most out of Relativity it is important to work withPOL's chosen Relativity provider, to
design a layout which works for you and your investigation. One size does not fit all!
It is likely that you will want a layout that allows you to see at a glance where you obtained a
particular electronic document from. There are a number of ways this can be achieved but it is likely
to include some kind of file structure where each sourcehas their own folder and documents from
that source are stored.
Once documents are stored in the workspace they will need to be reviewed and tags applied to each
document. When deciding on what tags are to be available to your reviews it is important that you
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give careful consideration as to what it is you are trying to prove and design a tagging structure that
allows you to achieve the same. It is not possible in this Manual to give a single descriptive file
structure as every case will be different and advice should be taken when designing a file structure
and tagging from the POL’s Relativity provider or an IO who has extensive experience of using
Relativity. Below are a few suggestions which you may assist you:
Relevance - It is highly likely that you will want to tag each document for its Relevance i.e.
© Exhibit
e Relevant Unused Material
* Sensitive Relevant Unused Material
e Assist the Defence and/or Undermines Prosecution
* Not Sure / Technical Issue
e Duplicate
It is always advisable to have a ‘not sure’ option available to your reviewers which can be reviewed
later by an investigator with a more comprehensive understanding of the investigation. In large scale
reviews, providing prompt feedback to the reviewing fam on those tagged as “Not Sure” can
improve the reviewers’ knowledge and accuracy.
You may wish to include a tagging option listing the names of your key participants, key events and
dates linked to the matter under investigation and a free text description box. This is nota
prescriptive list and is no more than a few suggestions. Thenumber and types of tags you choose to
use is limited only by your own imagination and what it is you are trying to establish. That said, too
many tags will be unwieldy and time consuming for your reviewers. Finding the right balance is a
skill and comes through experience of conducting reviews in Relativity.
7.4.5 eDiscovery and Analytical Stage
Having designed your workspace the next stage is to review all documents in your document
universe. There are a number of analytical tools at your disposal which can assist you and speed up
this process. For advice on which tool(s) to use when conducting reviews do take advice from POL’s
Relativity provider, however, below are a few suggestions:
7.4.6 Keywords and Proximity Searches
In cases with a significant number of documents within the document universe it may be simply
impracticaVimpossible to review every document. In such cases it is acceptable to use keyword and
proximity searches. The decision to use keyword and/or proximity searches must be recorded in the
investigation Strategy and for more complex cases consideration must be given to the use of a
standalone Digital Disclosure Strategy. The keywords selected and any proximity searches used that
make up the keyword search must be recorded in the Investigation Strategy/Digital Disclosure
Strategy.
7.4.7 De-duping
If you have gathered evidence from multiple sources it is common to have duplicate documents
within the document universe. This can occur for a variety of reasons including whenan email has
been sent to several recipients with an attachment. All recipients of the email now have within their
email client a copy of the attachment. If during your investigation you image the email client of
several recipients of the email you will capture from each a copy of the attachment resulting in
duplicate documents in your Relativity document universe. Relativity can be used to manage the
duplicates a function known as ‘deduping’. You will have to consider both from an evidential and
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disclosure perspective how you wish to manage duplicates. Is it enough to have just one copy of the
attachment in the evidence with all copies removed from view or is it important from an evidential
point of view to be able to demonstrate who had a copy df the attachment and therefore, each copy
of the attachment will need to tagged separately showing who had the attachment in their
possession. Whichever way you choose to deal with duplicates mass tagging should be used to tag
all duplicates just once thus saving a considerable amount of time by negating the need to
individually tag each duplicate.
7.4.8 Email Threading
Email threading is where each email in an email chain is listed one below each other in the review
pane. The chain can then be read just once and mass tagging used to tag all emails in the chain thus
saving a considerable amount of time by negating the need to individually tag each email in the
chain.
Remember if emails have been obtained from other parties in the email chain then it is likely that the
email chain will be replicated on the other user’s device and the whole chain is a duplicate in your
document universe. When mass tagging is often a goad idea to check for both ‘Duplicates’ and
‘Threading’.
7.4.9 Family Documents
By utilising the ‘Family Document’ function within Relativity it allows you to view both attachments
and covering emails in the same pane. This enables the reviewer to gain a more comprehensive
understanding of the context of the attachment and then if appropriate mass tag the email and
attachments once and not separately thus saving time.
7.4.10 Bundling Stage
While the bundling stage can be utilised once the eDiscovery and Analytical stage has commenced,
any data obtained before the completion of the eDiscovery and Analytical stage should be used
cautiously.
7.4.11 Saved Searches
Saved Searches are an extremely useful function within Relativity. Saved searches are utilised to
build multiple facetted searches to identify exactly what you are looking for using the workspace
tags. For example, if you are looking to link person ‘a’ b event ‘1’ and location ‘5’ you would create
saved search listing all documents that have been tagged as follows:
e Relevance — ‘Exhibit’
e Subject — ‘Person a’
° = Event—
* Location
5!
The same saved searches can be used to create disclosure schedules by simplyadjusting the search
criteria.
7.4.12 Important Note
As can be seen, to get the very best out of Relativity it is imperative that considerable thought has
been given to the layout of the workspace and how the tagging will be used in the ‘bundling stage’.
Any shortfalls in the design of the workspace leadingto amendments to the file structure and/or
tagging must be identified earlier. Identification of structure/tagging shortfalls after the eDiscovery
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stage has commenced is likely to result in the need to restart the review which can result in
considerable delay and increased costs.
8. Interviews
This guidance applies to all types of investigative interviewing, not only to interviews conducted as
part of a criminal investigation. The principles arebased on ensuring fairness to interviewee but also
to facilitate an appropriately effective investigation.
Before conducting an interview IOs should familiarise themselves and comply with the requirements
as set out at section 5.2 of the Combined GIP CLEP.
There are 3 types of interviews which may be conducted by Group IOs, these are:
1. Witness Interview
2. Conduct subject interviews
3. Criminal conduct subject interviews
Awitness interview is conducted with persons who are able to provide testimony to the event under
investigation or provide clarification on matters or systems relating to the investigation.
A conduct interview is conducted with a person suspected of breaching Group policy or regulation
and there is no suggestion that a criminal offence may have occurred. Authority to conduct this type
of interview must be obtained from the investigator's line manageror designated deputy.
A criminal conduct interview is conducted with a person who is suspected of committing a criminal
offence and may be conducted by a Police Officer or byappropriately trained, professionally
qualified and experienced investigators within A&Cl. Authority to conduct such interviews can only
be authorised by the Head of A&CI or their designated deputy.
When conducting interviews, IOs must comply with the seven College of Policing investigative
interview principals. These principals apply to all interviews, whether part of a criminal investigation
or any other form of investigation.
Principle 1
The aim of investigative interviewing is to obtain accurate and reliable accounts from relevant
parties about matters under investigation.
To be accurate, information should be as complete as possible without any omissions or distortion.
To be reliable, the information must have been given truthfully and be able to withstand further
scrutiny, for example, at a disciplinary hearing or court.
Accurate and reliable accounts ensure that the investigation can be taken further by opening up other
lines of enquiry and acting as a basis for questioning others.
Principle 2
Investigators must act fairly when questioning victims, witnesses or subjects. They must ensure
that they comply with all the provisions and duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human
Rights Act 1998 (HRA).
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Acting fairly means that the IO must not approach any interview with prejudice. The interviewer
should be prepared to believe the account that they are being given but use common sense and
judgement rather than personal beliefs to assess the accuracy of wtat is being said.
People with clear or perceived vulnerabilities should be treated with particular care, and extra
safeguards should be put in place.
For further information see:
e Working with victims and witnesses
© MOJ (2022) Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on Interviewing
Victims and Witnesses, and using Special Measures
Principle 3
Investigative interviewing should be approached with an investigative mindset.
Accounts obtained from the person who is being interviewed should always be tested against what
the interviewer already knows or what can be reasonably established.
The main purpose of obtaining information in an interview is to further the enquiry by establishing
facts. This point highlights the importance of effective planning in line with the whole investigation.
Interviewers should think about what they want to achieve by interviewing the victim, witness or
subject, and set objectives which will help to corroborate or disprove information already known.
Investigators should try to fill the gaps in the investigation by testing and corroborating the
information by other means where possible.
Principle 4
Investigators are free to ask a wide range of questions in an interview in order to obtain material
which may assist an investigation and provide sufficient evidence or information.
Conducting an investigative interview is not the same as proving an argument in court. This means
that interviewers are not bound by the same rules of evidence that lawyers must abide by.
Although the interviewer may ask a wide range of questions, the interviewing style must not be
unfair or oppressive. The interviewer should act in accordancewith the Police and Criminal Evidence
Principle 2 for further information regarding equality and human rightsconsiderations.
In Rv Fulling [1987] 2 ALLER 65, Lord Chief Justice Taylor stated that oppression is defined as:’
the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, harsh, or wrongfulmanner, or unjust or
cruel treatment of subjects or inferiors, or theimposition of unreasonable or unjust burdens in
circumstances which would almost always entail some impropriety on the part of the
[interviewer]’.
Principle 5
In respect of interviews linked to criminal investigations, investigators should recognise the
positive impact of an early admission in the context of the criminal justice system.
Benefits of an early admission relate to thefollowing areas:
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Victim
Resources Court
Benefits
Prosecution Defendant
Post Office
Victim - has an opportunity to claim compensation in respect of an offence that has been admitted by
the defendant, detected, and acknowledged by the criminal justice system. In situations relevant to
the use of this guidance, POL are the victim and will seek compensation through the criminal justice
system if the matter is referred to law enforcement.
Court — has a fuller and more accurate picture of the offending and is able to sentence more
appropriately. There is the potential for savings too as offences can be dealt with promptly without
additional court hearings.
Defendant - may receive credit for early admission of guilt. They may be eligible for a lesser
sentence — possibly allowing for tailored sentencing and access to rehabilitative programmes and
being able to ‘clear the slate’ to avoid the risk ofsubsequent prosecution for other offences.
See CPS guidance and Sentencing Council Guidelines (note different processes apply in Northern
Ireland and Scotland).
Post Office — gain valuable intelligence, increase detected offences rates, record a fuller picture of
offending for possible use in future cases.
Prosecution — has a fuller and more accurate picture of, for example, the offender's criminal history
when considering the public interest test, bail decisions, bad character, level of danger, and what
information to give the court.
Resources — are used efficiently, and the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system is
improved.
Principle 6
Investigators are not bound to accept the first answer given. Questioning is not unfair merely
because it is persistent.
An IO has a duty to obtain accurate and reliable information. A complete and reliable account from
witnesses, victims and subjects may not always be easy to obtain.
There may be different reasons why an IO needs to be persistent:
*® they may have reasonable belief that the interviewee is not telling the truth
* they may believe further information could be provided
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It is acceptable for interviewers to be persistent as long as they are also careful and consistent but
not unfair or oppressive. See PA ).9 and paragraph 11.5 for clarification.
Principle 7
Even when a subject exercises the right to silence, IOs have a responsibility to put questions to
them.
This Principle extends the right of an IO to put questions to those they believe can help them to
establish the truth of a matter under investigation
Subjects have the right to remain silent, but they are warned during the police caution or during
special cautions of possible adverse inferences being drawn should they choose to exercise that
right. These may be in terms of failure or refusal to accountfor objects, substances or marks
(Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA) section 36) or failure or refusal to account for
presence at a particular place (CJPOA section 37).
8.1 Witness Interviews
Witness interviews can occur at any point during the course of an investigation and can be pre
planned but may also occur unexpectedly. However, the interview occurs the investigative interview
principles as set out above must be complied with. When conducting pre-planned interviews it is
important to produce a witness interview plan to ensure that nothing is missed during the interview.
Interviewers must establish a professional relationship. People are more likely to give accurate
information if they trust the professionalism of the interviewer. The interviewee should be treated
fairly and in accordance with legislative guidelines. Interviewers must not allow their personal
opinions or beliefs to affect the way in which they deal with witnesses, victims or subjects. See
Section 8.2 of this Manual for guidance on completing witness statements and producing exhibits.
In the first instance the witness should be asked open questions and given the opportunity to provide
uninterrupted free recall of the incident they witnessed or the process they are describing. The
interviewer should make notes of the account given by the witness. Note that these notes are
potentially disclosable.
Only when the witness has finished providing their initial account should the interviewer seek to
obtain further clarification/detail by use of 5 WH questions i.e. Who, What, Where, Why, When and
How.
Note that there is a requirement to disclose to the defence the initial description of any subject
provided by the witness. Therefore, it is imperative that you record this description in full even if the
witness subsequently amends the description.
Remember the purpose of the witness interview is to establish the facts and to further the
understanding of the incident/matter under investigation. The IO should take the opportunity to test
their understanding of events and/or corroborate what is already known or believed to be true. The
10 should approach the interview with an open mind and be prepared to consider an
account/explanation which does not align with their current understanding of the case. The 10 will
not blindly accept everything they are told by the witness to be true but will use their professional
unbiased judgement based on corroborated evidence from a range of sources to reach sound
evidence-based conclusion.
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Having obtained a full and detailed account from the witness in note format the interviewer will then
turn the notes into a statement. This can take place at the first meeting with a witness or the
Investigator may take the notes away and draft a statemert to be supplied to the witness as soon as
possible after the initial meeting. It is important to stress to the witness that this is their statement
and they should amend or change anything in the statement which is not entirely accurate or has
been inadvertently misunderstood and recorded incorrectly by the 1O. Only when the witness is
completely comfortable with the content of the statement should the witness be invited to sign the
same.
Witness statements will be record on ‘POL11T’ or ‘POL11’ templates for non-criminal case, form
which are likely to appear in a civil court.
8.2 Witness Statements
Awitness statement is a signed document recording the evidence of a witness which that person
would be allowed to give orally. A witness statement can serve several purposes, it can:
e Provide a written account for what the witness observed or heard,
e Beused to produce documents or other evidential items as exhibits to be used in a criminal
trial,
* Can provide an explanation and/or context to a document or an event that has occurred.
e Can be of a technical nature explaining a procedure or process.
¢ Orin the case of a ‘professional witness’, provide expert opinion on the matter in question.
Awitness statement is a convenient and accepted means of presenting the testimony of the witness
to a hearing or court and may negate the need for the witness to attend the hearing/court to give
evidence in person. It allows all parties to understand wha the witness has to say and the value of
the evidence and/or exhibits the witness produces. The statement can be used to agree facts
between the parties and identify areas of contention on which the hearing or court can focus on and
thus speed up hearings/trials. While giving a statement may reduce the likelihood of the witness
being called to attend the hearing/court it by no way guarantees that the witness will not be called in
any event.
When obtaining a statement from a witness it is important that the statement is written in the
witness's own words. The witness should be reminded that the reader of the statement may have
no or limited knowledge of the event, controls/processes which they described and therefore, the
witness should be encouraged to explain in detail anything which is not common knowledge to the
wider general public. For example, most if not everyone who works for the Group knows what
Horizon is, but outside of the Groupit is a less familiar term. Therefore, when referring to Horizon the
witness will need to explain to the reader what is Horizon:
‘Horizon is Post Office's computerised system used to manage and process various
transactions including but not limited to banking, postage and document process transactions.
The system also records the amount of cash, currency, stamps and Post Office value stock held
in the branch’.
It is preferential that all statements are typed as it is easier to correct mistakes or provide additional
detail when taking the witness’ statement. However, if for whatever reason it is not possible to type
a statement, the statement can be handwritten. When producing written statements all
amendments, alterations or corrections to the statement must be crossed through using a single line
and initialled by the witness.
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Any documents or other items of evidential value produced by the witness must be referenced as
‘Exhibits’ using the ‘house style’ of a unique reference number in the format of ‘Witness’s
initials/Date/Time’ for example ARM/19102022/1555.
If exhibits are to be uploaded to an eDiscovery platform such as ‘Relativity’ it is permissible to replace
the ‘house style’ exhibit number with the unique document reference number generated by the
eDiscovery platform thus avoiding the need to maintain two unique reference numbers i.e. the exhibit
number and the eDiscovery reference number.
Statements in criminal cases are to be recorded on formMG11T for typed statements and form
MG11 for handwritten statements.
Statements in non-criminal cases are to be recorded on formPOL11T for typed statements and form
POL11 for handwritten statements.
Witness statements will follow the 5-part statement format.
8.2.1 of a Witness Statement — The Five Part Statement.
In some circumstances POL staff may be asked to produce a witness statement to support a criminal
investigation. Witness statements are the only way that evidence can be introduced into a court
process. They take careful crafting so as to clearly and effectively present the evidence required by
the court. Currently, the recommended format for a witness statement is the “Five Part” statement.
The Format Example wording/notes
1 Introductions lam the above named of the address shown overleaf
Introduce the witness and build 1am employed by Post Office Limited (POL) as an Auditor
their credibility. Why should a within the Franchise and Partnering Team. I have held this
paneUcourt listen to this witness? I post for 13 years, I have a degree in Accounting and Finance
and am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants
England and Wales. My duties are (in no more than a few
sentences list the witness's duties which are relevant to the
matter under investigation, do not write their whole job
description). Prior to working for POL I was an Audit Manager
for KPMG a post I held for 10 years.
2 Introduce the Incident I was tasked on the 1 October 2022 with completing a full
(Headline only) branch audit at the Somewhereville Post Office. This
followed a report received from POL's Financial Crime Team
suggesting a discrepancy of £500,000 in the branch cash
declaration.
Remember that whoever reads this statement may know
nothing about POL and POL's processes. You must explain
everything. Avoid use of abbreviations unless you have
introduced the abbreviation earlier in the text i.e. Post Office
Limited (POL). Explain what is meant by a discrepancy and a
cash declaration? What is meant by a full branch audit?
Who is the Financial Crime Team and what do they do? If
you mention Horizon then explain what Horizon is, what it
does and how this relates to the matter under inestigation.
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3 Locations and Dramatis
Personae
State the location of the incident(s) with locations in capital
letters SOMEWHEREVILLE POST OFFICE is located at 52
THE HIGH STREET, SOMEWHEREVILLE.
Explain who are the players you will refer to during your
statement with last names in capital letters. John SMITH is
the Postmaster of SOMEWHEREVILLE POST OFFICE. John
SMITH employs Robert (known as Bob) BROWN a cashier at
the branch.
4 Detailed Explanation of the
Incident/Matter Under
Investigation.
At (time), (date), (location). This is the detailed chronological
account from the witness about what happened. (Direct
speech in CAPITALS). (Include hearsay evidence if important).
Introduce unknown persons and subjects as they appear on
the scene. Use subject’s and unknown person's most
distinguishing feature as initial description. Their full
description will follow in part 5. You should also introduce
aspects of ADVOKATE at this point and include any
remaining ADVOKATE in part 5
ADVOKATE
Amount of time observed
Distance between witness and subject
Visibility including time of day and lighting
Obstructions blocking the view
Known subject from before
Any reason to remember the subject
Time lapse between first and later identification
Errors or discrepancies
5 The Closure
Full descriptions of unknown persons and subject(s).
The “permissions” — no one has permission to remove from
the branch money belonging to POL and use it for their own
means.
Descriptions of injuries. Note Damage to property including
cost of repair/replacement.
Complete aspects of ADVOKATE not already mentioned.
Victim personal statement. This is the victim's voice. Detail
the impact it has had/having on them. It will affect
sentencing.
Finish the statement with the sentence.
‘lam aware that this statement may be used at a hearing or in
a criminal court and I am prepared to attend the hearing or
court and give this evidence in person if necessary’.
8.3 Subject Interviews (Non-criminal cases)
Before conducting a subject interview IOs should familiarise themselves and comply with the
requirements as set out in Section 5.2 of the Combined GIP CLEP. Interviews in accordance with the
Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 will only be conducted by appropriately trained,
professionally qualified and experienced Investigators within A&CI. The principals and techniques
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within the PEACE Model (see below) can be used when conducting non-PACE interviews and will
ensure that there is structure to the interview.
8.3.1 Purpose of Interview
Investigators should remember at all times that the purpose of a subject interview is to give the
subject an opportunity to give an explanation to the facts established during the investigation, it is
not to obtain a confession of wrongdoing. Therefore, Os must approach all interviews with an open
mindset, they should give due consideration to any explanations or account given by the subject.
However, Investigators should not blindly accept what the subject says as being the truth.
Investigators should probe explanations/accounts given and invite the subject to respond to evidence
which contradicts what they say.
If the subject introduces new evidence or lines of enquiry which have not previously been exhausted,
then unbiased consideration should be given to this new evidence or Line of enquiry.
Post interview enquiries should be undertaken to establish the credibility of new evidence
introduced/identified by the subject and its value. Consideration should be given to reinterviewing
witnesses whose evidence contradicts explanations given by the subject and a further statement
taken from the witness if necessary. Decisions relating to lines of enquiry pursued or not pursed post
interview will need to be recorded in the Decision and Action Log
8.3.2 The PEACE Model
Corporate investigation teams as well as law enforcement in the UK follow a particular structure in
conducting interviews. It is referred to as the PEACE model. If followed, it provides a noncoercive
and effective way of ensuring that the interviewee understands what is happening and delivers
granular information.
When conducting interviews of any type, POL IOs will follow the PEACE Model (see below).
Planning and Preparation
This is the most important aspect of any interview and will impact directly on the likely success of the
interview. Interview planning can take several hours or even weeks depending on the
complexity/sophistication of the matter under investigation.
When preparing for a subject interview you may wish to consider the following (this is not an
exhaustive list):
1. Does the interviewee have any special needs such as age/disability/mobility/cultural etc.?
2. Does the location of the interview have any access challenges such as swipe card access,
steps etc.?
3. If the interviewee and/or anyone else attending the interview are likely to arrive at the
interview by car is there nearby parking. Remember that as the IO may need to travel with
files, exhibits and/or equipment so you may need to park near to the inteniew location.?
4. Is the interview room private and the conversation will not be overheard in adjacent rooms?
5. Can the interview room be accessed without the need to escort the subject across a crowded
room of colleagues/peers?
6. Are toilet facilities available?
7. \s there a means to provide a drink of water, if requested?
8. If you are planning on producing any electronic documents will you need access to WiFi to
access said documents?
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9. It is a requirement that a record of the interview is produced. This can be by means of
contemporaneous notes or if all parties agree the interview can be recorded. If recording by
means of contemporaneous notes then make sure you have sufficient paper ard at least two
pens. If you intend to offer recording of the interview you will need to make sure that you
have recording device and media i.e. CDs/hard drive space available. If you record the
interview, you will need to arrange for the interview to betranscribed, therefore, you should
avoid using a mobile telephone for recording such interviews. In the case of criminal
investigations, subject interviews must be recorded using a Home Office approved recording
device.
10. Is there anyone you are not going to permit to be present at the interview i.e. connected
parties/associates?
11. What is it you are accusing the subject of? What are the points to prove? Are there any
potential defences? Do you have any evidence to counter the defence?
12. What is going to be your opening TED (Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me) question.
13. In what order are you going to cover each topic?
14. What exhibits are you going to produce and in what order?
15. Are you going to ‘challenge’ as the interview develops or are you going to keep ‘challenges to
the end’?
16. Who is going to lead the interview and who is going to be the second officer?
The IO must produce an interview plan prior to the interview.
In the case of non-criminal investigations, it is unlikely that there will be grounds to justify a ‘no
notice interview’. Therefore, subjects will be given a minimum of five working days’ notice of the
intention to be interviewed. A template letter inviting the subject to an investigative interviewis
available. In the case of a fact-finding investigation witness will be provided with a copy of the
leaflet ‘Fact-Finding Investigations’. Templates inviting subjects to PACE interviews are available at
section 8.4 below.
Engage and Explain
The purpose of this stage is to establish rapport and is the most influential aspect in whether or not
an interview is successful. It involves showing concern for the subject's welfare by asking how they
want to be addressed, how much time they've got available to be interviewed and giving reassurance
if the person seems anxious or nervous. An interviewaide memoir is available to ensure that you
cover all the important parts. An aide memoir for PACE interviews is available at section 8.4 below.
Account — Clarification and challenge
This stage is where an interviewer attempts to obtain a full account of events from the subject
without interrupting. Once the subject has explained what happened, the interviewer can ask follow
up questions which allow them to expand and clarify their account of events. If necessary this may
involve challenging aspects of the interviewee's story if contradictory information is available. You
will have decided during the planning phase whether you challenge and produce exhibits on
contested points as they arise or whether you keep all challenges to the end of the account phase.
Closure
This stage involves summarizing the subject's account of what happened and is designed to ensure
there is mutual understanding between interviewer and interviewee about what has taken place. It
also involves verifying that everything that needs to be discussed has been covered. If the interview
has been recorded by means of contemporaneous notes then the subject will be given an opportunity
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to read through the notes and request corrections. The subject will sign at the bottom of each and
every page to confirm that they are a true and accurate record of what has been said.
Evaluation
This stage requires the interviewer to examine whether they achieved what they wanted from the
interview; to review the status of the investigation in the light of any new information that was
received; what further lines of enquiry are required (if any) and to reflect upon how well the interview
went and what, if anything, could have been done differently.
8.4 Conducting Interviews in Accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)
An interview under caution (IUC) in accordance with PACE is only conducted when there are
reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence may have been committed. These are specialised
interviews and will only be conducted by appropriately trained, professionally qualified and
experienced Investigators within A&CI and when authorised by the Head of A&Cl.
Planning and preparation for IUCs will be conducted in accordance with the PEACE model (see
section 8.4 above) and utilising the IUC Plan template.
Consideration will be given as to the appropriate venue for conducting such interview which may
include, Group premises, hotel conference breakout rooms, Police stations etc. Conducting an IUC at
the subject's premises can be viewed as an invasion of privacy and presents health and safety risks
for the investigator and therefore, should be avoided
Ordinarily subjects will be given a minimum of 5 working days’ notice of the intention to be
interviewed in order that they can seek legal advice etc. However, in criminal investigations there are
limited occasions when it may be necessary to conduct interviews ‘without notice’ and it is likely that
such interviews will be conducted following arrest by Police. Grounds for conducting a ‘without
notice’ interview would include where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that evidence which
is not in the control of the IO would be lost or destroyed if the subject were alerted in advance to the
investigation or where the subject has previously been invited to attend a voluntary interview and
has failed to attend and therefore, has been arrested by Police toenable an interview to take place
(prompt and effective investigation). The Head of A&CI must be consulted when considering a
‘without notice’ interviews and authorise the same. A template letter inviting the subject to attend a
voluntary IUC is available.
Interviews must be conducted in accordance with the PACE codes of practice (the codes) and
specifically Code C and Code E.
The codes require the IO to advise interviewees of certain rights, issue notices and to formally caution
the interviewee prior to the commencement of questioning. Anaide memoir is available to assist IO
and to ensure that all points are adequately covered in sufficient detail.
A ‘notice to persons being interviewed is available along with a ‘notice to person whose interview
has been recorded on compact/video disc.
Interviewees are to be advised of their right to obtain legal advice if they wish to do so. However, if
the interview is being conducted by Group staff only i.e. there is no warranted Police Officer present
at the interview then in accordance with Code C note 3J (pages 24) the interviewee is responsible for
any payment due to their solicitor for the provision of legal advice (see below). Note that note 3)
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applies regardless of venue i.e. the interviewee would not be entitled tofree legal advice if
interviewed by Group staff only even if the interview took place in at a Police Station unless a Police
Officer was present.
PACE Code C note 3)
‘For voluntary interviews conducted by non-police investigators, the provision of legal advice is set
out by the Legal Aid Agency at paragraph 9.54 of the 2017 Standard Crime Contract Specification.
This is published at https:/Avww.qov.uk/government/publications/standardcrime-contract-2017 and
the rules mean that a non-police interviewer who does not have their own statutory power of arrest
would have to inform the subject that they have a right to seek legal advice if they wish, but payment
would be a matter for them to arrange with the sdicitor’.
9. External Enquiries
To progress some investigations, it will be necessary to engage with external organisations or
individuals. As Group investigators we have no police like powers and so a professional and
engaging manner should be used. In conducting these enquiries, we arethe visible representatives of
the Group.
A Group investigator will most frequently engage with our Strategic Partners such as WHSmith or
Royal Mail Group. There are contractual obligations and rights relating to investigations of individual
or collective interest with these external partners andso an IO must consult with the relevant POL
lawyer who can provide advice as to engaging these entities. It is also advisable to contact A&CI
Triage as there may be established information sharing routes or single points of contact for some of
the Strategic Partners.
There are civil court-enabled ways of securing information from other organisations or individuals.
Where necessity and proportionality may be met then the IO must seekadvice from Senior Legal
Counsel — Dispute Resolution for advice.
10. Disclosure
While many users of this Manual will be conducting investigations relating to alleged procedural
breaches of contractual matters, others may be conducting investigations either in corroboration or
supporting investigations conducted by law enforcement agencies such as the Police.
No matter the original basis of the investigation Article 6 of the European Convention on Human
Rights sets in law the right to a fair trial. In the case of Rv-Keane (1994) Lord Taylor of Gosforth CJ
ruled that the “open justice” principle had to be maintained at all times and that it would be contrary
to that principle for the prosecution (here read the Group) to withhold from the defendant material
which might undermine its case against him, or which might assist his defence.
Therefore, no matter what type of investigation is being conducted whether this be
procedural/contractual, civil or criminal there is a requirement for the investigator to record and retain
all material that comes into their possession during the course ofthe investigation including material
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generated by the investigation team themselves and reveal to the defence any evidence which might
undermine the Group's case or might assist the defence.
For more detailed guidance on Disclosure see appendix ‘F’.
11. Assurance
Monthly Review
The line manager will conduct monthly reviews with the IO or more frequently if the case is likely to
open and close in the space of one month. The purpose of the meeting will be for the line manager
to act as a second set of eyes and provide advice and guidance on the lines of enquiry. The line
manager will also act as mentor to the IO and will confirm that the standards set out in this Manual
are being maintained.
The line manager must confirm the following:
«That there is evidence that all decisions and actions are being recorded on the Decision and
Action Log.
e That there is sufficient detail and rationale to justify decisions made during the investigation.
e That all actions are linked to a decision.
e Date for the completing of each action has been set.
¢ Completion dates are reasonable and are being complied with.
* Once an action has been completed it is shaded red.
e That evidence is being obtained lawfully.
« That continuity of evidence is being maintained.
* That evidence is being stored securely with access controls in place which are being adhered
too.
e That there is an investigation strategy in place and it is being followed.
«That there is evidence that the investigation strategy is evolving as the investigation evolves.
* That enquiries linked to actions are being recorded.
* Where statements have been taken that they are clear, lack ambiguity and contain sufficient
detail.
* That exhibits are being obtained, allocated an exhibit number in accordance with the house
style.
e That there remains justification for the continuance of the investigation and that the
investigation remains proportionate and necessary.
The line manager will make an entry in the Decision and Action log to confirm that the monthly check
has been completed.
Local Reviews
A local review will be conducted by the line manager at a frequency aligned with local practice but at
least quarterly and will seek assurance that:
e The investigation is progressing.
© The current strategy reflects what is happening in reality.
* Consideration has been given as to whether all reasonable lines of enquiry have been
completed and whether the investigation can be closed.
¢ There remain grounds to justify the ongoing investigation.
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There is a realistic timeline to conclusion of the investigation.
* Record any enquiry, observation and direction (EO&D) that the line manager identifies on the
EO&D sheet,
On completion of the review the line manager will make an entry in the Decision Log confirming the
following:
‘T have conducted a full and comprehensive review of the investigation file, I have reviewed the
Strategy, Plan and records of actions taken and decisions made and I am content that the
investigation is fair, fact based and that there remains justificationfor the continuation of the
investigation’.
Reviews Conducted by the Assurance & Complex Investigations and Group Assurance Team
‘Group General Counsel’, the ‘Post Office Board’ and key stakeholders require assurance that those
who conduct investigations on behalf of the Group maintain the highest possible professional
standards. It is, therefore, imperative all teams and individuds that are covered within the scope of
this document (see section 2 above) and who are tasked with conducting investigations of any kind,
work to the standards and requirements as set out in this document and comply with all legislation
relating to the conduct of such investigations.
Assurance will be obtained via a comprehensive program of dip sampling of investigation files by the
Senior Investigation Managers within the A&Cl. The Group Assurance Team may also conduct their
own file reviews of the decentralised teams. The Group Assurance Team will conduct dip sampling
of investigations conducted by the A&Cl.
Any areas identified requiring improvement will in the first instance be discussed with the
investigating officer and their line manager and an action plan will be agreed to address the concerns
identified and recorded on the EO&D form. Where appropriateadditional training and guidance will
be arranged.
In the event of a failure to comply with the requirements as set out in this Manual leading to possible
miscarriages of justice, likely challenge by the defence on the grounds of procedural breach, a breach
of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and/or falure to comply with disclosure obligations as set
out in CPIA/A_G Guidelines will be immediately reported to the Head of A&Cl.
12.Providing evidence
12.1 Sharing Information with Law Enforcement
There may be occasions when it is necessary or desirable to share information with the Police or a
Regulator, such as:
Reporting suspicious activity in accordance with anti-money laundering legislation,
e Reporting alleged criminal offences i.e. theft or fraud at a Post Office branch or POL premises
(note only A&CI/Speak Up are authorised to report such matters to the Police), providing a
witness statement in support of an investigation being undertaken by Police/Regulator,
e Referring a file to Police/Regulator following an investigation undertaken by A&Cl.
Detailed instructions on how and when it is permissible to share information with law enforcement
can be found in the Group Investi¢ and Co-oper: with Law Enforcement I
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Appendix A
Assurance & Complex Investigations and Speak Up Team
A.1 Speak Up and A&CI Triage Process
What is Triage? Triage is a form of process management that fast tracks incoming workflow by
priority, so the most critical work is attended to first. The Speak Up Manager and Intelligence
Analyst triage all information and reports received via the reportng process.
Triage Process
Provide Police
with
InteVevidence
aise with Legal
for authorization
Not tobe
Create an inteligence/ aeahaoaia” investigated by
Information entry on Request
Insight Intel/info
Received
Pass to appropriate
Identify department/team
evidence
Robbery or
Burglary
Create an intelligence/ search full details,
Information entry on Sea wine
insight
create 3x5x2. Open
Investigation on
Investigation Insight
Required
Pass Case to an
Investigator
Threchold
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Assurance & Complex Investigations ~ Fact Finding and/or Accountability investigations
TOR
bt. Legal ‘aneport
Required
Requited Required
‘Accountability
share report with
Employee Relations
Fact Find
Fact Find oF
abity
Assurance & Complex Investigations -
Criminal Investigations
‘and pass briefing pack
evened
with key
stakeholders as
Gather evidence and ri
propriate and
share with Police (f engaged),
appropriate, Respond to
requests from the
A.1.1 Reporting process
Information can be received into the triage function via third party reporting, Convercent, via email
(triagd or (speakup! GRO } or reports received via Contracts, Customer
Care, Network Monitoring, Disputes Resolution, Strategic Partners and external Law enforcement
agencies, this list is not exhaustive.
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A.1.2 Engagement
The Speak Up Manager and the Intelligence Analyst engage directly with the Reporter, Complainant
or Correspondent to obtain further details. If the information has been received anonymously via
Convercent, the Reporter maintains their anonymity and is contacted via the third-party service
provider.
If a Speak Up Case the Triage Team maintain contact with the Reporter throughout.
A.1.3 Process
Upon receipt of the initial information received and details of investigation so far, the THRIVE+
process is considered.
The THRIVE+ is an operational risk assessment tool, which supports the decision making by
considering the key factors; Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation needs, Engagement requirements and
the need for prevention/intervention.
The Speak Up triage function will use the risk framework to allocate the most appropriate resource to
the meet the needs of the risk threshold.
The aim of the risk framework (THRIVE+) and the new High, Medium, Low grading model is designed
to support consistent and reliable decision making -— this model is triaged on case-by-case basis with
other risk factors being considered.
The operational risk assessment tools are designed to protect people and the Business from harm by
assessing the threat and risk of any given incident and respond with the appropriate response
dependent on the level of threat, risk and vulnerability.
THRIVE+
A threat is a communicated or perceived intent to inflict harm or loss
against another person or Business
Harm is to do or to cause harm. E.g. to injure, damage, hurt- physical
or psychological, this also includes harm to Reputational Brand
Risk is the likelihood of the event occurring again if a process is
identified and no action is taken, prevent reoccurrence. Including
financial or reputational loss
Investigation is the act or process of examining wrongdoing or situation
and considering what action is required
Is defined for the purposes of incident management as “a person is
vulnerable if because of their situation or circumstances, they are
unable to take care or protect themselves, or others, from harm or
exploitation.” Also, POL vulnerabilities and exploitations within the
Business.
Engagement is where stakeholders and individuals build a positive
relationship for the benefit of all parties
Enable the Triage function to highlight and consider opportunities to
report on findings, trend analysis and root cause analysis
A.1.4 Triage considerations having considered THRIVE+, the Risk Grading Model is applied to
classify the priority.
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Ifthe case is a serious or complex specialist investigation or criminal activity requiring law
enforcement, this is passed direct to A&Cl;
¢ If PIDA or falls within the scope of Speak Up, the case is passed the Speak Up Integrity
Investigators;
A1.5 Risk Grading Model
High Risk Medium Risk
Fraud or Theft activity over Fraud or Theft activity £100 —
£200K £199K
Public Interest Disclosure Act I Protected characteristics
1998 (PIDA)
Modern Slavery Process failure
HM inquiry Conduct
Allegation Grade 4 or above Strategic Partners -
Investigate
Significant Regulatory Impact
Significant Pan-POL Process
failure
Out of Scope ~ signpost to appropriate department to action or Law Enforcement Agency in
accordance with Combined GIP CLEP.
A.1.6 Recording and passage of information Cases are logged on Convercent and allocated to the
appropriate team or investigator on a Triage document (Triage - Draft). This document provides a
summary of initial information received and background checks, other relevant information which will
assist the investigation.
A.2 Opening an Investigation
A.2.1 Commencing an Investi:
At the commencement of an Investigation the IO in consultation with their Commissioning Manager
will open the following documents.
A.2.2 Investigation Strategy
The Investigating Officer (10) will within 5 working days of the case being allocated by Triage
produce a Combined Strategy document. The purpose of this document is to lay out the approach to
be taken in the conduct of the investigation and to pull together or reference the separate
workstreams required to do so. It is not an action plan, it lays out direction of travel and
rationale. However, the strategy must cover all reasonable lines of enquiry, including those that
point away from the matter under investigation, to establish an objective fact base and address all
points to prove. For more complex cases it may be appropriate to ue a more detailed Investigation
Strategy instead of the Combined Strategy. There may also be a requirement to produce a
standalone strategy for a particular aspect of a complex investigation for example a Victim Strategy.
In such circumstances the specific standalone strategy should be linkedto the Combined
Strategy/Investigation Strategy.
A.2.3 Investigation Control Document
In addition to the Combined Strategy document the 10 will open an Investigation Control Document.
This document has several functions:
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* Establishes a timeline to complete the investigation (tab 1)
The 10 will amend the dates in Row 5 column D to reflect the Monday of the start date of the
investigation, with subsequent columns advancing by one week. Green shading will be
applied in each week an action (as listed in column 'b’) is to be worked and red shading
applied to the estimated completion date. Members of the investigation team will be listed in
column b rows 33 onwards and the date of anticipated or known leave recorded by shading
blue in the relevant column on the date grid. The case plan must be agreed with the !0’s line
manager and Commissioning Manager and constantly monitored with any delays being
brought to the attention of the line manager and Commissioning Manager at the earliest
opportunity.
* Decision and Action Log (tab 2)
All decisions and actions are required to be recorded on tab 2 of the Investigation Control
Document. Each decision will be number sequentially with the prefix D. The date the
decision was taken will be recorded in column ‘b’ with the decision being reca'ded in column
‘c’ (normally no more than a single sentence). A clear and concise rationale must be recorded
in column ‘d’ for each decision using the mnemonicJAPAN — Justified, Authorised,
Proportional, Auditable and Necessary. The name of the decision maker will be recorded in
column ‘e’. All actions must be linked to a decision, allocated to a person responsible for
completing the action with a date set for the completion of the action and recorded in column
‘f onwards. Once an action has been completed it will be shaded red, making actions which
remain outstanding immediately visible.
* Costs (tab 3 & 4)
Outsourced Legal and non-Legal Costs outside of Group resources are to be recorded in the
control document on tabs 3 & 4.
« Travel Costs (tab 5)
All travel related expenses incurred during the course of the investigation are to be recorded
on tab 6.
* Evidence Grid (tab 6)
Provides an evidence grid for a number of specimen offences. The grid is not meant to limit
possible offence to those listed and if the offence you areconsidering is not listed the IO will
populate column ‘a’ with the points to prove the offence under consideration. Please note
that the grid should be used for civil offences as well as criminal offences. For each ‘Subject’
the IO will list each piece of evidence they believe proves the point being considered (note
that several pieces or evidence may be required to prove the one point, all items to be listed
in the same cell) by Relativity Number/Hyperlink to SharePoint document followed by a short
description. Once the IO is satisfied that they have sufficient evidence to prove the ‘point to
prove’ the cell is to be shaded ‘green’. Once the IO is satisfied that all points to prove have
been established the ‘Offence Made Out’ for that subject is to be changed to ‘Yes’ and
shaded green.
A.2.4 Convercent
The IO will open a case on Convercent for each investigation. Detailed instructions on how to opena
file in Convercent can be found h
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A.2.5 SharePoint Folder
The IO will open a case folder in SharePoint using the filename format:
* ‘Convercent Number/Case or Project Name’. For example ‘0999aa22/Project Earth’
The SharePoint folder will contain as a minimum the following sub-folders
e Reports
e Statements
° Emails
e Disclosure — which will contain the relevant disclosure schedules
e Data Requests
A.3 Conduct of investigations
The following guidance is provided in addition to that listed in sections 1 to 12 above.
Speak-up/A&CI conducts three types of investigation they are:
Fact Find Investigation — What occurred, when did it occur, where did it occur, how did it occur
(this would include investigations conducted by Tier 2/3 etc.).
The anticipated outcome of a Fact Find Investigation is possible amendments to standard
operating procedures/policies/manuals etc.
Accountability Investigation — What occurred, when did it occur, why did it occur, where did it
occur, who was involved, how did it occur.
The anticipated outcome of an Accountability Investigation is:
* possible amendments to standard operating procedures/policies/manuals etc.
e possible disciplinary hearing
.
Criminal Investigation — What occurred, when did it occur, why did it occur, where did it occur,
who was involved, how did it occur, what criminal offences may have been committed.
Anticipated outcome
* possible amendments to standard operating procedures/policies/manuals etc.
« Possible suspension and termination of contract
* possible disciplinary hearing
* matter may be passed to local law enforcement/regulator for consideration of criminal
charges
Criminal Investigations conducted by A&CI- Following a A&CI investigation authority must be
obtained from the Group Legal Director prior to a referral to Police/Regulator and the following
documents will be supplied:
* MG5 Investigation Report
* MG6C Schedule of Relevant Non-Sensitive Unused Material
* MG6D Schedule of Relevant Sensitive Material
e MGG6E Disclosure Officer's Report
* MG9 Witness List
* MG11 (see section 8.2 above)
© =MG12 Exhibit List
« MG15T Transcript of Recorded PACE interview (if conducted by A&Cl)
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A.3.1 When conducting criminal investigations there is a requirement under the Criminal Procedure
and Investigation Act 1996 to appoint a Disclosure Officer (DO). The DO (can be the same person
as the IO) will in consultation with the IO design and agree a process for managing all disclosure
obligations.
The DO's duties are ongoing throughout the investigation and prosecution. This means that the DO is
required to conduct an ongoing review of the material throughout the prosecution and, where
appropriate, provide the prosecutor with updated disclosure schedules. This includes the common
law duty to identify at an early stage any material which may assist the defence in the early
preparation of their case which may be prior to receipt of schedules. Such material should be
revealed to the prosecutor prior tothe commencement of proceedings or as soon as possible
afterwards. The new Att Ger _Code puts greater emphasis on this. Examples could be a
relevant previous conviction of a witness or the withdrawal of a witness’ evidence.
DOs should always err on the side of recording and retaining material where they have any doubt as.
to whether it may be relevant.
eral
DOs or their deputies must inspect, view or listen to all relevant material that has been retained and
the lead disclosure officer must provide a personal declaration to the effect that this task has been
undertaken.
A.3.2 During the course of an investigation the Head of Assurance & Complex Investigations team
will conduct with the SIO regular reviews of all matters under investigation A note of each review
will be made in the case Decision and Action log. Any decision relating to the matter under
investigation made by the Head of A&Cl during such reviews will recorded in the Decision and Action
log and accredited to the Head of A&Cl.
A.4 Report Writing
Speak/A&Cl will produce three types of reports, they are:
Update Report produced on request from either Head of Investigation Branch or a Post Office
committee.
Interim Report produced when the IO concludes that the investigation has reached a strategic
decision point and requires an executive decision or similar.
Final Report produced on completion of an investigation once all reasonable lines of enquiry
have been exhausted or it is no longer reasonable and proportionate to continue with the
investigation and the Head of Investigations Branch has agreed that the investigation @n be
closed.
The report will provide a fair and balanced evidence-based summary of the investigation. It is
expected that all evidence will be in electronic format and a hyperlink will be provided to each piece
of evidence. On the rare occasion it has not possible to avert a piece of evidence into an electronic
format that piece of evidence must be referred to by exhibit number (see section 8.2) and its location
noted in brackets.
For consistency, investigative reports in A&CI will have a house style. The report templates must be
used, and the structure maintained although common sense can be applied to best present the
information as an exception.
Dates should be presented as DD Month YYYY in an alpha numeric format e.g. 26 September 2023.
People’s names should be in full form in an Executive Summary and in the first usage in the main
body but then with initials after that.
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A.5 Case Closure
A case may be closed either when:
e Allreasonable lines of enquiry have been completed and the evidence demonstrates that
there is no case to answer, or
e All reasonable lines of enquiry have been completed and there is insufficient evidence to
prove a breach of policy/criminal offence has been committed, or
All reasonable lines of enquiry have been completed and a sanction has been applied and all
rights of appeal have been exhausted or the right to appeal is time barred due to the elapse
of time, or
¢ Asaresult of enquiries conducted to date it no longer remains reasonable nor proportionate
to continue with the investigation.
In any event, a case may only be closed once explicitly authorisation has been received from the
Head of Investigation Branch for A&CI case and Speak-Up and Intelligence Manager for case
conducted by Speak-Up. The decision to close the investigation must be recorded on the Decision
and Action log stating the rationale for closure in line with the above and a copy of the authority to
close the investigation saved on the ‘SharePoint’ case file for A&Cl cases.
The IO will check that all actions recorded on the Action Log are concluded and marked accordingly.
A copy of the closure report will be uploaded to Convercent and the Convercent file will be closed.
Instructions on how to close a Convercent file can be found here.
Any physical exhibits stored in the Exhibit Store will be archived in line with the Group’sarchive
instructions.
On completion of an investigation and where it is appropriate to do sq the IO will meet with
representatives from the Group Assurance team and other key stakeholders. Attendees will reflect
on the root cause of the investigated issue and what further mitigations/controlsshould be
considered to mitigate against repeating concerns.
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Appendix B
Contracts Team
Forward
It is important that each postmaster is able to ensure the obligations as set out in their contract are
performed to the standards required and are provided support by Post Office to meet these
standards. Post Office recognises that there will be occasions where these standards are not being
met. The role of the Contracts Team is to address the issues where these standards are not being
met, primarily through three processes:
* Contract Performance;
e Contract Suspension; and
* Contract Termination.
B.1 Contract Performance
A contract performance issue arises where a postmaster is not meeting their obligations as set out in
their contract to the required standard in relation to a material matter. For example branch
accounting non-conformance or a failure to comply with legaland/or regulatory requirements.
B.1.1 Contracts Team Triage Process
There is no formal triage process in the Contracts Team, instead issues may be escalated into the
team through a variety of routes, for example Network Monitoring or the Area Manager.
The Contract Advisor will make their own assessment of whether to accept a referral under the
following criteria:
* act as a guide and advisor to those Post Office teams, particularly Area Managers, dealing
with contract performance issues to ensure consistency of approach;
* ensure that all necessary steps have been taken by Post Office teams to support postmasters
to address the identified issues, with the appropriate documentation completed;
* revert to the relevant Post Office team to address any identified instances where steps have
not been taken or appropriate documentation not completed by Post Office in relation to
managing performance issues
B.1.2 Opening an Investigation
Post Office will investigate a potential contract performance issue before taking any formal
contractual action. The process of investigation allows Post Office to establish facts and gives the
postmaster the opportunity to identify and answer any issues o concern raised.
If the case has been referred by another team then the Contracts Team will adopt the previous
team's Dynamics case file. If the case is being initiated by the Contracts Team or for whatever reason
there is no previous Dynamics case file then the Contracts Team will open a Dynamics Case file.
In the event that the matter under investigation has been referred to Contracts by the Assurance &
Complex Investigations (A&CI) or the Police then the Contracts Team will progress the investigation
in corroboration with A&Cl/Police.
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B.1.3 Conduct of the Investigation
In the investigation process, the Contract Advisor may seek further information from the postmaster
through written correspondence (including emails), telephone conversation(s) or a face-to-face
meeting. During the course of your investigation you becomeconcerned or you uncovered evidence
that indicates a criminal offence may have been committed you must seek early advice from the
Assurance & Complex Investigations.
B.1.4 Branch Assurance
If the investigation has highlighted a serious risk either to the postmaster or Post Office then a
Branch Assurance visit may be requested.
In addition to the action outlined above Post Office may consider further measures to reflect the
nature of the performance issue when considered against regulatory risk to Post Office and its
customers, for example financial consequences (in the form of rasonable costs to undertake
training) and removal of products. Any action taken in this respect will be considered against the
principles and processes as set out in this policy document.
Following the issuing of a written direction the appropriate Post Office team will monitor the
situation. An assessment will be made on the length of monitoring period dependent on the
individual circumstances but it is unlikely that this will last longerthan 12 months. Should the issue
reoccur then the facts will be reported to the Contract Advisor by the appropriate team.
B.1.5 Report Writing
Once an investigation is complete the Contract Advisor will keep a record of any decision taken,
including the reasoning behind why any action was taken. This may include preparing a Contract
Performance Rationale document capturing the material information provided by the postmaster,
relevant documentation provided by other Post Office teams connected to the issue, any action taken
by the Contract Advisor and a rationale outlining next steps.
If the matter being investigated is raised through a Branch Assurance visit the rationale for next
steps, and any contractual action, will be captured in the non-suspension rationale (see contract
suspension below).
B.1.6 Case Closure
Following investigation the Contract Advisor may take the following contractual action:
Written Direction
This is a means by which a postmaster is formally requested in writing to take steps to resolve the
contract performance issue. A written direction (using aStandard Templated letter) will be issued
when the investigation has been competed.
* outline the breach(es) of contract based on the applicable facts;
* give the postmaster a period of time to rectify the issue explaining what is requiredto do
so. In determining the period of time, regard should be had to the terms of thecontract
relevant to the breach and to what is reasonable in the circumstances; and
* explain the consequences of not doing so.
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B.2 Contract Suspension
Post Office recognises that there may be occasions where it is necessary to suspend the contractual
relationship with a postmaster. The act of suspension is a neutral, precautionary act. It is used to
investigate the cause of a potential contractual breach identified by the Contract Advisor. It does not
imply there has been any such breach.
B.2.1 Contracts Team Triage Process
When considering suspension, Post Office must complete a preliminary investigation. This
preliminary investigation will, as a minimum, include a review of the contract between Post Office
and the postmaster to confirm the extent of Post Office’s right to suspend.
The contractual right to suspend may arise:
° if the postmaster is arrested or charged with a criminal offence;
if the postmaster has civil proceedings brought against them:
there are grounds to suspect the postmaster is insolvent; and/or
e due to irregularities or misconduct in the operation of the branch.
A review of the facts related to the investigation to establish whether Post Office is itself in material
breach of duty in respect of the matters giving rise to the right to suspend. If it is, Post Office must
not suspend the postmaster from operating thebranch.
This investigation will include:
* a review of previous correspondence with the postmaster; and
* a review of any other supporting documents held by Post Office.
This investigation may also include:
* a Branch Assurance visit;
* areview of Network Monitoring records; and
* information provided to Post Office by an outside body or source, for example, the police,
insolvency practitioners, or Post Office clients.
B.2.2 Report Writing
Whenever an investigation leads to suspension being considered, the Suspension Rationale
Document must be completed by the Contract Advisor. This captures the background of the case,
investigation undertaken and rationale behind the decision to be taken. The document will be used
by the Head of Contract Management & Deployment, if required with support from Post Office's
legal team, as a basis for their decision on suspension.
Factors that the Head of Contract Management & Deployment should consider when deciding
whether or not to suspend a postmaster from operating the branch include:
° There being a risk to the postmaster;
e There being an immediate risk to Post Office assets;
e There being a risk to Post Office's brand and/or Post Office's reputation of the postmaster
continuing to operate the branch.
Suspension will only be applied where absolutely necessary to investigate the cause of a potential
contractual breach identified by the Contract Advisor and where all alternative options have been
considered.
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Alternative options to suspension may include non-suspension monitoring — continued monitoring of
the issues identified over a defined period of time, with any further or escalating issues being flagged
to the Contract Advisor to reconsider suspension.
B.2.3 Case Closure
Reinstatement or termination should happen as quickly as possible once an investigation has been
completed or Post Office identifies that it no longer has a reasonable and proper reason to maintain
the suspension.
For reinstatements, the postmaster should receive a letter confirming the end of the suspension
period and the outcomes of any investigation. For terminations, the postmaster will receive
communications in accordance with the Postmaster Contract Termination Policy (Postmaster Support
Policies (sharepoint.com)).
The Contract Advisor is responsible for ensuring the postmaster’s reinstatement is carefully planned,
supported and in accordance with the wishes of the postmaster. This may be assisted by liaising with
the relevant Area Manager, other Post Office supportteams and/or the NFSP. Examples of
considerations that the Contract Advisor should make include:
e What date is appropriate for any re-fund or transfer branch assurance visits to take place;
¢ Whether it is appropriate to offer the postmaster and/or their team further training prior to
reinstatement;
¢ Whether it is appropriate to offer the postmaster additional onsite support post
reinstatement. Any decision to terminate the postmaster's contract should be taken in
accordance with the Postmaster Contract Termination Policy.
B.3 Contract Termination
Under agreements between postmasters and Post Office, postmasters provide products and services
to customers on behalf of Post Office and in doing so are asked to meet contractual obligations as set
out in the agreements.
On occasion these obligations may not be met by a postmaster and, in certain circumstances, Post
Office may need to terminate its agreement with a postmaster.
B.3.1 Contracts Team Triage Process
Post Office will carry out an investigation before exercising any termination rights. In the
investigation process, the Contract Advisor may seek further information from the postmaster
through written correspondence, telephone conversation(s) or face to face meetings. In addition to
seeking further information from the postmaster the Contract Advisor will look at the available data
and relevant information to try and determine the following factors:
What is the impact on the Postmaster, were we to terminate, and how has this impacted the decision
being taken;
« What is the direct involvement or responsibility of the Postmaster in the actions that led to
the breach and can this be mitigated;
° The risk to Post Office funds and public funds;
e The risk to POL brand or reputation of the Postmaster continuing to operate the Branch;
e The impact of the decision on customers and suppliers;
« Whether someone suffered loss or damage as a result of the breach;
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© The postmaster’s history;
© Any other relevant information
Information sources that may be used include Tier 3 reports, Network Monitoring data, original
application details, training provided to the postmaster and branch call logs.
B.3.2 Report Writing
Whenever termination of a postmaster’s contract is considered, the Termination RationaleDocument
must be completed by the Contract Advisor. This captures the background of the case, investigation
undertaken and rationale behind the decision to be taken. The document will be used by Post Office
legal services and the Contract Termination Decision Review Group as a basis for establishing:
* whether Post Office has the right to terminate the contract; and
* if so, whether Post Office considers, acting in good faith, that it should terminate the contract
or not.
Post Office must not terminate the contract unless it has the legal right to do so and cannot
terminate when Post Office is itself in material breach of duty in respect of matters which the Post
Office considers give it the right to terminate (although this does not restrict Post Office Ltd.'s ability
to terminate for a repudiatory breach).
B.3.3 Case Closure
Once the decision to terminate has been taken and the postmaster has been informed in writing they
have the option to challenge the decision in which case the decision, and how the decision was
reached, will be escalated to the Decision Review Panel (the hub - Postmaster Decision Review
Policy V2.2.pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)).
Depending on the circumstances of the termination the matter may also be escalated into the
Assurance & Complex Investigations and/or the Postmaster Account Support Team (if recovery of a
discrepancy is required)
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Appendix C
Disputes Resolution Team
C.1 Disputes Resolution Team Triage Process
C.1.1 Background
The Dispute Resolution process is effective for discrepancies incurred from 14" April 2021 onwards.
The Dispute Resolution Triage process was introduced as part of the ToM 1.0 in May 2021 as a way
of moving cases through the Investigation process quicker and easier. The application of a De Minimis
level is applied as per the Postmaster Accounting Dispute Resolution Policy. The Disputes
Resolution Triage Team assesses the case and perform baseline checks to confirm if a full
investigation is required. The Post Office reserves the right to apply De Minimis criteria to certain
cases (i.e., cases below a certain value or where no previous issues have been identified) to improve
the postmaster journey and allow greater focus on priority cases.
C.1.2 Process
A Dynamics case is set up by the Branch Support Centre (BSC, Tier 1) team and assigned to the Tier
2 Dispute Resolution Triage Team via Dynamics workflow, only if it cannot be resolved by the BSC
Tier 1 Team.
The Dispute Resolution Triage team pick up cases based on date received order and review the
details, ensuring all the information shown in the Dynamics workflow are correct i.e., amount and
start date on Tier 1 checklist is completed, if the information is incorrect, it’s rejected back to the
previous team to deal with accordingly.
The Triage team, add the start date to the Triage checklist and complete the Triage checks (using
BART, Horice, CFS and Dynamics systems) and update all the information on the case via Dynamic’s
workflow.
The Dynamics Triage Checklist is:-
1. Add start date Tier 2 Triage
2. Does the Branch have any system issues?
3. Confirm with the Head of Resolution whether the amountis below De Minimis?
4. Check CFS/BART overview to establish if there have been 2 or more clearances in 12 months
5. Check CFS/BART overview and confirm if unresolved losses in last 12 months total over De
Minimis.
Select relevant case outcome status reason in Dynamics workflow, there are 4 case
outcomes at the end of the Triage investigation stage:-
* Branch to resolve
* Move to Tier 2 for a full review
* Resolved written off
« Resolved discrepancy found
The Triage team call the Postmaster to-
Support the PM to perform checks in branch that may resolve the discrepancy, if they have
not performed a Trading Period Balance (TP) the Triage team will support and coach the
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Postmaster to complete balancing, which ensures the discrepancy amount is recorded
accurately in the Finance system. (Branch to resolve status)
e If the discrepancy is over De Minimis or does not meet relevant criteria, the Triage Team
advise the Postmaster that the case will be passed to Tier 2 Team for an investigation, the
Triage team update findings and move the case via Dynamics workflow systemto the Tier 2
Team. (Move to Tier 2 for a full review status)
e If under De Minimis and Postmaster meets relevant criteria, Triage Team advise the
Postmaster that the amount will be cleared from the account and pass the case via Dynamics
workflow to the Postmaster Account Support Teams (PAST) with details of the amountand
reason for clearance, the PAST team update the details in the Core Finance System (CFS)
(Resolved write off status)
e The Triage team have found the discrepancy and communicated the outcome to PM so no
further action i.e., matched to a Transaction Correction (TC) and resolved itself(Resolved
discrepancy found status).
C.1.3 Approval Limits for Discrepancy Clearances
Up to £500 Tier 2 investigation advisors
Between £500.01 and £1000 Team Managers
Between £1000.01 to £5000 Network Resolution Operations Manager
Under £25,000 Head of Network Support & Resolution.
Over £25,000 Referral to Central Operations Director
C.1.4 Triage Process Map
The Triage Team process map is below.
Hyperlink to process map Dispute Resolution Triage Process Map
C.2 Opening an Investigation
C.2.1 Background
The Post Office needs to undertake a fair investigation into any shortfall before it seeks recovery. It’s
important that the investigation undertaken into gains is also fair. The investigation process
therefore must be:
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* proportionate in scope to the value of shortfalls or gains and complexity of the issues under
investigation.
* be transparent to the postmaster, giving them fair access to information and fair opportunity
to comment; and transparency in sharing information with the Postmaster, updating on
timescales, explaining reasons for decisions.
* be reasonably documented, including recording the investigations undertaken, factual
findings made, and conclusions reached.
* Fairness and reasonableness- ensuring information provided by the postmaster is properly
considered as part of the investigation.
* Giving fair consideration to the evidence and facts available in reaching a conclusion
C.2.2 Allocating an investigation
If a Dynamics case has been moved into the Dispute Resolution Tier 2 workflow, the case is pending
allocation from a Team Manager to an Investigation advisor.
The Team Manager allocates the case, and the high-level case details are added to the investigators
Kanban board for tracking purposes.
C.2.3 Process of an Investigation
A key area of investigation will be Horizon with the areas listed in the Tier 2 and the Case
Investigation Checklist in respect of Horizon being explored by Post Office where necessary to
ensure that Horizon as a potential cause of the shortfall has been onsidered and ruled out.
The T2 investigation officer will within 10 working days of starting work on the case, investigatethe
discrepancy using the main systems below:
HORIce - Horizon Interrogation - Live Horizon Data Reporting.
Credence - Management Information reporting warehouse. Receives detailed transactions
performed at Post Office branch via an overnight batch schedule from Fujitsu. Enables viewing
of detailed transaction data.
BART - Use of B.A.R.T (Branch Analysis Review Tool) is to view Dynamics Cases, Branch
Trading Information and Transaction Corrections.
CFS - Core Finance System - The Post Office ‘back-office’ application that manages branch
accounts and performs the settlement and billing functions for Post Office.
Transaction Correction Tool — (TC Tool) - Holistic view of all transaction corrections including
description issued to the branch.
NOMAD - Use of N.O.M.A.D (Network Observation Monitoring Analysis Dashboard) isto view
branch information, including, cash collection details , last date of Trading Period rollover, date
of cash declaration, dynamics cases, and outstanding customer account balance.
Dynamics 365 — A set of interconnected, modular Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications
and services. It combines CRM and ERP capabilities, integrating data, business logic, and
processes, all branch communication case details are captured.
Enhanced User Management (EUM) — smart id’s including contact details and what branches
they are registered to.
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For each investigation by product type there are end user procedures (EUP) documents stored in Tier
2 team SharePoint, detailing ways of working, hyperlink below:
Dis n 2S
At this stage the Investigation Advisor may require more information and would escalate accordingly
ie, Team Manager, Tier 3 technical support, or escalation to weekly review or Dispute Committee,
this is captured on the Kanban board and Dynamics system.
INV-ESCO1_ Dispute resolution escalation team process
When the Tier 2 investigation is finished the investigator would then complete all the steps in the
Tier 2 process investigation form checklist in Dynamics workflow system as below:
1. View detail of case & check workflow completed correctly
Check for any previous related cases
Contact the branch
Complete full investigation (includes checklist within report)
Finding’s report completed & attached to Dynamics case
PM requested copy of Findings report
Date Findings report sent
Findings Report sent to PM
OPNATRWN
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9. Finding’s overview
The Tier 2 Investigator would then complete the workflow in Dynamics as below
*Some of these fields will be pre-filled from the Investigation form step above.
1. Start Date T2 Investigation
Findings Report completed & attached to case
Findings Report sent to PM
Status Reason T2
Established Loss - PM Not Accept (Escalate)
Not Established Loss — Write off
Established Loss — PM Accepts
Not Established Loss - PM Accepts
Click on Set Active to move the case along the workflow
PONANREWN
C.2.4 Investigation Escalation Strategy
For more complex cases it may be appropriate to escalate to the Dispute Resolution Tier 3 team who
would review the case and perform a secondary investigation, the Tier 3 process map is below:
Tier 3 investigation process map
Tier 3 Investigation follow on activities process map
Tier 2 or Tier 3 Investigation Teams may escalate to other teams after identifying Postmaster non
compliance and requesting follow-on actions by other teams, i.e., offering a Postmaster further
training and support via appropriate channels.
The escalation process map hyperlinks to other teams whilst an investigation is taking place are
below:
Dispute resolution escalation team process
Identifying postmaster support needs - training/area manager referral
Network Monitoring and audit referral
Contract team referral
C.3 Report Writing
The Dispute Resolution team produce 2 types of reports, the standard templates are embedded into
the Company Policy / Dynamics system and attached to each case, the types are:
Tier 2 Report - produced from cases assigned to the Tier 2 team from the Dispute Resolution
Triage team
«Tier 3 Report — produced from cases assigned from the Tier 2 weekly review meeting, or
complex cases may be assigned from the Contracts team i.e suspensions,
National Federation Sub-postmasters (NFSP), The Postmaster Experience Team Product
Horizon and GLO, or Strategic Partners or multiples.
The reports are produced on completion of an investigation once all reasonable lines of enquiry have
been exhausted.
The report will provide a fair and balanced evidence-based summary of the investigation, including
manager review and the report is attached to the case in the Dynamics system. All source data (for
example system spreadsheet downloads of information,) referenced in the report will either be
embedded into the report, or the source data will be uploaded to the Dynamics file (in addition to the
screenshots included in the text of the report).
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C.3 Case Closure
A case may be closed either by:
° Directly resolved, cases are closed by the Investigator in Dynamics as the discrepancy has
been resolved, no further action required.
e After investigation the case is assigned to the PAST team for recovery of the shortfall
discrepancy value, repayment of surplus value or clearance. All reasonable lines of enquiry
have been completed and the evidence demonstrates that the discrepancy is 7 established
loss or not established loss (insufficient evidence).
The investigator will update Dynamics workflow and ensure all communication touchpoints are
attached to the case, and the status of the case is updated.
Within Dynamics there are case classifications that are used as an indication of the type of
cases. These high-level classifications are used to enable root cause analysis. The categories have
been standardised alongside appropriate ‘outcome based’ root cause categories leading to better
intelligence to reduce the common causes that potentially cause pain points for Postmasters.
Once the Discrepancy case has been investigated whether by Triage or by a Full Tier 2 or Tier 3
investigation, the category is updated in Dynamics with the cause analysis of the issue just prior to
resolving the case (or passing over to the Postmaster Account Support Team (PAST) for recovery or
clearance).
The Team categories are split into 4 levels>
«By Team (L1)
e By Product (L2)
e By Cause (L3)
¢ By Resolution (L4)
As well as ensuring the Dynamics workflow has been completed in full, the findings overview in
Dynamics is updated with all the relevant details of the case, which can be used to add
substance/detail to the L4 category reason.
Once an investigation is concluded, the process for engaging with a Postmaster to communicate the
outcome of an investigation is as follows:
* The Postmaster will be contacted in the first instance by telephone (if unavailable E mail) to
discuss the outcome of the case (call monitoring recorded via Puzzel system and the report
and conclusions and all communication touchpoints are all recorded inthe Dynamics case).
* All postmasters will be offered a copy of the Case Investigation Report and if they have
stated that they would like to receive it, the following applies:-
° The Case Investigation Report will be a simplified version of the internal report with the list of
located files, branch details and further suggestions and recommendations omitted
° The Case Investigation Report should be included in a password protected Zip file with the
password sent to the postmaster via a different channel (for example, asking PM to use their
unique branch code by E mail, or communicated over the phone)
«As part of the investigations review process, and in instances where the content or findings of
the investigation may warrant sensitive information, the reviewing manager may request that
Quatrix is used rather than encrypted email.
If the Postmaster disputes the findings in the report, they have the right to provide any further
evidence by sending an E mail with additional evidence, that will be considered by the Dispute
Resolution Team Managers.
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The Dispute and Resolution process map for when a discrepancy case needs a full investigation is in
the hyperlink below:~
Full Investigation Process
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Appendix D
Network Support and Resolution
Network Monitoring
D.1 Network Monitoring Process
D1.1 Background
The Network Monitoring team carries out network monitoring using a riskbased model. The model
ranks the branches in order of risk so that the team can ascertain which branches are the most ‘at
risk’ and investigate them as a priority.
The scoring rankings in the model are re-calculated on a weekly basis and the Network Monitoring
team refresh the data used by the model daily. The model can be used to ‘search’ for an individual
branch and it allows the analyst to ‘deep dive’ and review potential trends and patterns in the data
with respect to that branch. The analyst can build a picture from the data to aid understanding of the
accounting systems and processes at the branch before raising any issues or concerns with the
relevant postmaster.
Where an accounting issue is identified, the Network Monitoring team will, wherever possible and
appropriate, contact the postmaster with a view to helping the postmaster to rectify that issue. This
support may be provided through a telephone call from theNetwork Monitoring team, the
arrangement of a Support Call or Visit by a member of the Branch Assurance Support team and,
occasionally, through an Announced Branch Assurance Visit or an Unannounced Branch Assurance
Visit. A combination of these support options may be deployed.
The Network Monitoring team will produce a Branch Assurance Rationale Document at thisstage of
the investigation in circumstances where it is necessary to involve Branch Assurance. This document
is provided to the relevant Branch Assurance Advisor. The Network Monitoring team will open a case
on the case management system (Microsoft Dynamics 365) for each desktop investigation. They will
populate the case with any all actions that are taken in relation to that case, including phone calls
made to the postmaster and the record and results of any visits made
Network Monitoring and Branch Assurance Support Policy V3.0.pdf
D1.2 Definitions
NOMAD - Use of N.O.M.A.D (Network Observation Monitoring Analysis Dashboard) highlights
risk in branches by specific product
Dynamics - Case management system - shows all communication with a branch, inbound &
outbound
HORIce - Horizon Interrogation - Live Horizon Data Reporting.
Credence - Management Information reporting warehouse. Receives detailed transactions
performed at Post Office branch via an overnight batch schedule from Fujitsu. Enables viewing
of detailed transaction data.
CFS - Core Finance System - The Post Office ‘back-office’ application that manages branch
accounts and performs the settlement and billing functions for Post Office.
Puzzel — Call recording system
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Branch Assurance Rationale Document (BARD) - this document sets out the rationale behind a
decision to undertake a Branch Assurance Visit, along with relevant supporting data, and is
provided to a postmaster to explain the reason behind the visit.
Branch Assurance Visit — This is a comprehensive assessment of the current trading position of
a Post Office1 branch, and includes the verification of reported Levels of cash, foreign currency (if
applicable), stock items and vouchers as well as a compliance review, to check ifmandatory
business conformance and regulatory compliance controls are operating as intended.
Support Call/Visit — This is a supportive, call or face to face visit that is conducted to encourage
accurate accounting in branch. The aim is to educate, advise, resolve and prevent any
outstanding issues related to branch accounting
D1.3 Process
Network Monitoring advisor will select assignments on a weekly/monthly basis.Cases are created
for each assignment and a full branch investigation is completed.
Note — if a case has been created by Network Monitoring in the previous 3-month period or we have
a present active case (e.g., sent to Branch Assurance), we would not reassign the same office until
after the 3 months has passed or the case has been resolved.
The team also receive requests from other areas within POL, these are called ‘external requests’, to
complete an investigation or to submit a branch for a Branch Assurance visit, which also requires an
initial investigation. The request reasoning is documented along with the investigation results
If the external request is for a Branch Assurance visit, i.e., from Stock Team, we will complete our
investigation and regardless of our findings, put the case through for a Branch Assurance visit
Dependant on the outcome of an assignment investigation, one of the following steps are taken:
* Closed with no further action
* Network Monitoring call
Highlight branch issues to Business Support Manager/Strategic Partner/Area Manager
e Highlight branch issues to Anti Money Laundering/Speak Up
e Support call
© Support visit
* Branch Assurance visit
D.2 Opening an Investigation
An investigation will take place from the following start points:
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D2.1 Assignment from NOMAD
NOMAD Assignments How Often Estimated Volumes
Cash/Cheque Adjustments Bi-weekly 5to 10
Cheques at Site Weekly 5
Reversals > £500 Weekly 10 to 15
120-day Rollover Monthly 5
Rolling Losses Monthly 3to4
Scratch Cards Weekly 5
£50 Weekly 5
£100 Weekly 5
Unusable Notes Weekly 5
Failed Declarations Weekly 5to10
Declared Vs Generated Cash Weekly 5
Wednesday Declarations Weekly 10
Pending Transfers Monthly 3
D2.2 External Request
These are ad hoc requests from multi
networkmonitoring}
D2.3 CFS General Ledger Monitoring
le sources within POL, via email to the team inbox
GL Monitoring I How Often Estimated Volumes
Suspended Sales I Weekiy Ad hoc
Loan to PO Weekly Ad hoc
Branch Snapshot Balance Weekly Ad hoc
Discrepancy
Local Suspense Weekly Ad hoc
D2.4 Non-conformance Monitoring
Other Assignments How Often Estimated Volumes
Conformance Calls (60 Day Daily Ad hoc
rollover) via email
Sales vs Reversals via email Monthly Ad hoc
D2.5 Dynamics/Puzzel
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A case is created on Dynamics for every investigation. Any relevant emails must also be added to the
case, and any contact with the branch must be recorded in the Activity pane. Calls to branches must
be made via Puzzel so the call is recorded.
All documentation related to the case must be uploaded to Dynamics
D.3 Report Writing
D3.1 Investigation Checklist
The advisor will use the NM Investigation Checklist V2.4.xlsm to record the findings of the
investigation, following the Investigation Guide v2.4 - November 2022.docx
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The Advisor will investigate branch details using the checklist on the investigation form which looks
at NOMAD, Credence*, CFS and HORice. The Advisor will look at each section and fill this out for all
cases assigned.
Advisor will fill in and upload all the checklist to Dynamics.
From the investigation, the advisor will note on the checklist any concerns and where appropriate,
note a value at risk.
The value at risk drives the next steps to be taken. If the case is to be assigned to Casework to
schedule action from Branch Assurance, the advisor will determine the level of intervention required
using the tolerance levels. There are separate tolerancelevels for cases from Cash management as
these are inevitably of a higher value - Network Monitoring Tolerance Levels v3 - Jan 2023.docx
If the case is to be assigned to Casework for Branch Assurance intervention, a Branch Assurance
Rationale Document must be completed
D3.2 Branch Assurance Rationale Document (BARD)
The BARD must be completed as this is a tool used by the Branch Assurance advisor toexplain the
purpose of the visit,
The Network Monitoring advisor will select all the topics from the checklist where an issue was
noted and transfer this to a Network Monitoring form in the Dynamics case, this is in the Loss
Prevention tab.
This ensures that only the relevant information is passed over to Branch Assurance
For information — the form on Dynamics is not the completed BARD, this information feeds into
NOMAD and Casework extract the form from NOMAD when scheduling Branch Assurance activity.
The BARD pulls information from the Dynamics form and NOMAD, showing branch information,
activity and concerns.
D.4 Case Closure
D4.1 Assign to Branch Assurance
The Network Monitoring Advisor will change the Classifications in Dynamics to flag the case to
Casework for scheduling for Branch Assurance.
D4.2 Assign to other
The Network Monitoring Advisor will send an email to the relevant party via Dynamics and then
close the case.
4.3 No further action
For cases where the issue is now resolved or there is a valid reason for the issue the advisor will
close the case on Dynamics.
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Appendix E
Branch Reconciliation
E.1 Branch Reconciliation Stock Process
1.1 Background
The Stock Team within Branch Reconciliation Team carries out monitoring of Stock in the Network
using a risk-based model (SMART), which is re-calculated on a monthly basis. The model ranks the
branches in order of risk so that the team can ascertain which branches are the most ‘at risk’ and
investigate them as a priority.
The model has 9 different reports built into it and scores an individual branch on each report. It also
gives an individual branch an overall score based on all 9 reports and then ranks branches based on
risk. The model can also be used to ‘search’ for anindividual branch and it allows the analyst to ‘deep
dive’ and review potential trends and patterns in the data with respect to that branch. The analyst
can build a picture from the data to aid understanding of the accounting systems and processes at
the branch before raising any issues or concerns with the relevant postmaster.
Where an accounting issue is identified, the Stock Team will, wherever possible and appropriate,
contact the postmaster with a view to helping the postmaster to rectify that issue. This support may
be provided through a telephone call, issuance of a Transaction Correction to rectify the branch
accounts, the arrangement of a Support Call or Visit by a member of the Branch Assurance Support
team, escalation to the Strategic Partner and, occasionally, through an Announced Branch Assurance
Visit. A combination of these support options may be deployed.
The Stock Team will produce a full Rem Check at this stage of the investigation in circumstances
where it is necessary to involve Branch Assurance. A call is arranged between the stock Team,
Branch Assurance Advisors and the Contract Manager to explain the outcome of the Rem Check and
discuss next steps. The Stock Team will open a case on the case management system (Microsoft
Dynamics 365) for each desktop investigation. They will populate the case with all actions that are
taken in relation to that case, including phone calls made to the postmaster and a record including
results of any visits made.
E1.2 Definitions
SMART - Use of the SMART Tool (Stamp Markers and Risk Tracker) highlights risk in branches
Dynamics — Case management system — shows all communication with a branch, inbound &
outbound and the outcome of the investigation
HORIce - Horizon Interrogation - Live Horizon Data Reporting.
Credence - Management Information reporting warehouse. Receives detailed transactions
performed at Post Office branch via an overnight batch schedule from Fujitsu. Enables viewing
of detailed transaction data.
CFS - Core Finance System - The Post Office ‘back-office’ application that manages branch
accounts and performs the settlement and billing functions for Post Office.
Puzzle - Call recording system.
Remittance Check — Rem Check — The Stock Team review all Stock that has been delivered to
branch V what has been manually remitted into Horizon by the branch, any reversals or Stock
Adjustments that have been completed covering the last 2 years. They also look at any Stok
that has been remitted out of Horizon to return to the Stock Centre V Stock physically received
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at the Stock Centre. If a concern is identified the team will review further data over the last 5
years.
Reversal — When a reversal is completed by branch this increases the volume of Stock on hand
in branch and decreases the value of cash held in branch. If the cash is left in the till this would
result in a Cash Surplus.
Stock Adjustment - When a Stock Adjustment is completed by branch if the Stock Adjustment
is to increase the volume of Stock on hand, it will reduce the value of the cash in branch, if it is to
reduce the volume of Stock on hand this will increase the value of cash in branch.
Transaction Correction -
Branch Assurance Visit — This is a comprehensive assessment of the current trading position of
a Post Office branch, and includes the verification of reported levels of cash, foreign currency (if
applicable), stock items and vouchers as well as a compliance review, to check ifmandatory
business conformance and regulatory compliance controls are operating as intended.
Support Call/Visit — This is a supportive, call or face to face visit that is conducted to encourage
accurate accounting in branch. The aim is to educate, advise, resolve and prevent any
outstanding issues related to branch accounting
E1.3 Process
Stock Team Advisor will select assignments on a weekly/monthly basis.Cases are created for each
assignment and a full branch Stock investigation is completed.
Dependant on the outcome of an assignment investigation, one of the following steps are taken:
* Closed with no further action
* Stock Team call to branch
«Issue a Transaction Correction to correct Branch Accounts
* Highlight branch issues to Business Support Manager/Strategic Partner/Area Manager
* Assign to Network Monitoring requesting a full branch check
e Support call
© Support visit
e Branch Assurance visit
E.2 Opening an Investigation
An investigation will take place from the following start points:
E2.1 Assignment from SMART
Master List — Overview of all Stock data for branch
SM01 In Transit to Branch — Stock Delivered to branch not remitted in
SM02 In Transit from Branch — Discrepancies in pouches received at the Stock Centre from Branch
SMO3 Missing in Transit — Stock Remitted out of branch but not received at the Stock Centre
SM04 Branch Throughput — Orders vs Sales vs Remittance out
SMO5 Sales vs Reversals — Monitoring where more reversals than sales are completed
SMO6 Reversals over £1k— All reversals over £1k
SMO7 Other Stamps Outliers — Impact of reversals on remuneration
SMO8 Neg Remuneration - Postmasters receiving negative remuneration
SMO9 Adjust & Reverse — Monitoring all reversals and Stock Adjustments
2.1 External Requests
These are adhoc requests from multiple sources across POL, via email to the team inbox
StockEnquirie 7
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£2.2 Dynamics/Puzzle
A case is created on Dynamics for every investigation. Any relevant emails must also be added to the
case, and any contact with the branch must be recorded in the Activity pane. Calls to branches must.
be made via Puzzle so the call is recorded.
All documentation related to the case must be uploaded to Dynamics
E.3 Report Writing
E3.1 Rem Check
The advisor will use the Rem Check Template to record the findings of the investigation Insert a link
to the template here.
From the investigation, the advisor will note on the Rem Check any concerns and where appropriate,
note a value at risk.
If the case is to be assigned to Casework for Branch Assurance intervention, the case is assigned to
Network Monitoring for a full branch check and they will complete a Branch Assurance Rationale
Document.
E.4 Case Closure
£4.1 Further Action
For cases where further action is required the advisor will update their case on Dynamics and then
close it on their part
£4.2 No further action
For cases where the issue is now resolved or there is a valid reason for the issue the advisor will
close the case on Dynamics.
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Appendix F
Disclosure
F.1 Non-criminal Case Disclosure Considerations
In a non-criminal investigation there is no statutory obligation to comply with CPIA orA_G
Guidelines. However, consideration should be given to article 6 of the European Convention of
Human Rights (Right to a Fair Trial) with particular consideration as to how the IO will identify
documents that may undermine POL's case and/or assist the case for the defence. Specific
consideration should be given to how such documents will be brought to the attention of the
defence. This must be recorded in the strategy and the decisions and intended actions recorded on
the Decision and Action Log. For more information in relation to disclosure in civil cases see section
F.3 of this manual.
F.2 Disclosure Criminal Case
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights sets in law the right to a fair trial. In England
and Wales this right is achieved through the correct application of the Criminal Procedures
Investigations Act (CPIA) 1996 and the Code of Practice (the Code). Similar guidance is available in
Scotland and Northern Ireland.
While CIPA and the Code only relates to criminal cases, there are similar obligations underPart 31.
chapter.
The overriding principals when conducting investigations are that all ‘material’ coming into the
possession of the 10/DO is retained, a record is made itemising all items of ‘material’ and that record
is revealed to the defence. The disclosure obligationscontinue throughout the life of the
investigation and beyond and only comes to an end following a conviction and all appeal rights have
been exhausted.
Para 2.1 of the Code defines material relevant to an investigation as being that which appears to an
Investigator, or to the Officer in charge of an investigation, or to the disclosure officer has some
bearing on any offence under investigation or any person being investigated, or on the surrounding
circumstances of the case, unless it is incapable of having any impact on the case. If an officer is in
any doubt as to the relevance of any material, they may seek advice from the CPS (in the case of POL
a Senior Legal Counsel -Criminal).
Material is not simply limited to documents and statements but can include and not limited to CCTV
footage, audio files, photographs, forensic evidence, electronic devices, CDs/DVDs, memory sticks,
clothing etc.
All relevant non-sensitive material which does not form part of the prosecution case will be recorded
MG6D schedule should be used to reveal to the prosecutor the existence of relevant unused material
which the officer believes is sensitive. Sensitive material is that which, if revealed, would give rise to
a real risk of serious prejudice to an important pubic interest. The officer must state the reason for
the belief. The MG6D is not disclosed to the defence.
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Form MG6E is used to bring to the prosecutor's attention to any material that could reasonably be
considered capable of undermining the prosecution case or of assisting the case for the defence. The
MG6E should explain why each item satisfies the test for disclosure.
For further guidance on disclosure in criminal cases see the CPS National Disclosure Standards.
F.3 Disclosure in Civil Cases
Disclosure in civil cases i.e. employment or contractual matters is covered underPart 31 Civil
Standard disclosure requires you to preserv, disclose and make available for inspection the
documents on which you rely and any documents that adversely affect your own case or support the
other party’s case (CPR 31.6). The Court can also make an order for specific disclosure i.e. of a
particular sort or category. A “document” is defined by CPR 31.4 and is anything in which
information of any description is recorded. The information can be of any type and so a “document”
could be a video, photograph, email or information on a hard drive or removable media such as a USB
data stick.
The duty to disclose is limited to documents that have been or are within a party's possession or
control (CPR 31.8). This means either something physically possessed by a party or something they
have a right to possess or inspect. A copy of a document cortaining alterations is treated as a
separate document, so you should disclose both versions (see CPR 31.9).
Communications between a party and their solicitor (and in some situations third parties, such as
expert witnesses) must be disclosed but often can be withheld from production, provided they satisfy
the requirements to attract ‘legal professional privilegé. This rule exists to enable companies and
individuals to speak openly and frankly when they obtain legal advice and litigation support.
Other types of privilege include privilege against incrimination, public interest immunity, privileged
without prejudice settlement proposals and privilege on the basis of miscellaneous contractual and
statutory grounds.
There is an obligation to make a reasonable search for and preserve potentially disclosable
documents. The meaning of reasonable depends on the nature and complexity of the proceedings,
the number of documents, the costs involved and potential importance of any documents found.A
reasonable search should be “tailor-made” to the particular case (Nichia Corporation v Argos Limited
[2008] EWCA Civ 741). To facilitate this, it is common for the legal team to contact all employees
and central team who may be holding potentially disclosable documents with a ‘document hold’
notice, designed to highlight the need to preserve the documents.
If it was unreasonable to have searched for a category or class of document, the disclosure statement
should make this clear. PD31 4.4 places an obligation on the legal representative acting for a party
giving disclosure to "endeavour to ensure that the person making the disclosure statement...
understands the duty of disclosure under Part 31". In Wagstaff v Colls [2003] EWCA Civ 469 it was
stated, " ...it is the solicitor who is in charge of deciding what documents are or are not to be
disclosed... he cannot hide behind his client's instructions. If he cannot persuade his client to comply
with what is right in the circumstances, the solicitor must withdraw from the case."
The duty to disclose is on-going until proceedings are concluded (see CPR 31.11). If, following
disclosure, further documents come to light, there is a duty to immediately notify the other party.
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If a party fails to comply with the disclosure requirements, they may incur adverse costs orders and
any order or judgment that is made in the claim could be struck out (see Rybak v Langbar
international Ltd [2010] EWHC 2015).
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