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Further to the announcement which I made on 9th May 2022, I now invite
written submissions from Core Participants to the Inquiry to address the issues
set out below by 31st May 2022.
The NFSP welcomes the opportunity to feed into this section of the Inquiry and is
grateful to Sir Wyn for asking these questions to ensure that the three distinct
groups of victims are being treated fairly and that any financial redress is not
unduly delayed.
The involvement of the NFSP to each is very much on the periphery as we were
not part of nor involved in the Group Litigation cases of 2018 and 2019. As such, we
were not asked to provide input to the settlement agreement that was reached
between the parties nor had any involvement in the mediation process that
occurred afterwards that determined the basis for the Historical Shortfall
Scheme, compensation for those SPMs whose convictions were quashed nor the
mechanism that is still to be determined on how any further compensation will
be calculated or provided for the Group Litigation claimants.
However, it has to be noted, that the NFSP welcomes the announcement of the
Postal Affairs Minister in March, 2022 that further compensation will be forth
coming to the GLO claimants who fought so hard for so long.
Clearly, there were cultural problems within all levels of Post Office resulting in
Postmasters, assistants and employees of Post Office losing their reputations and
much, much more. On that basis, suitable compensation must be provided as
quickly as possible to allow these individuals to rebuild their lives, free from the
stigma that they have endured for so long.
As the NFSP has not been involved in the court cases nor the subsequent
mediation process, our responses to the questions in each section will be limited.
A. Historical Shortfall Scheme (“the HSS”)
1. The heads of loss which are recoverable under the HSS and the reason(s) for
any exclusions;
The NFSP was concerned that the terms of reference did not provide clarity on
what losses colleagues could apply for via the HSS. As the NFSP were not involved
in the mediation process where the HSS came from, we do not know if PO have
conformed to the agreement in this respect.
2. Whether there has been delay and, if so, the cause(s) of delay in processing
applications under the HSS;
The NFSP promoted the availability of the Historical Shortfall Scheme up to its
closure in August 2020 and its subsequent extension till the November, and
provided guidance to current and former colleagues on how to go about
applying to the HSS. However, due to GDPR, our knowledge of progress is limited
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to how many cases there are or how far along that process the Post Office is. We
have no oversight of which individual cases have been processed, are being
processes or are still to be processed. Nor do we have any oversight of the value
and complexity of induvial cases. The NFSP have not had any meetings with the
HSS panel comprising of a QC, Forensic Accountant or Retail expert.
However, current and former colleagues do contact us to enquire if their case will
be considered shortly and we are able to ask the Post Office and respond
accordingly to the claimant. It has to be noted here that the response we receive
from PO is limited to whether the case is being considered or not. If the case is
still to be considered, PO will not tell us when it is likely to be processed.
There was an area of concern that the NFSP had and caused us to write to the
Board of Post Office (please see attached document). This involved the non -
renewal of the contract of the previous Head of Historical Matters. Our concern
was that for a significant period of time there was not an individual responsible
for driving the processes to ensure swift and proper payments of claims within
Post Office. It would be a justifiable question to ask whether this resulted in a
delay of cases being processed? Our further concerns centred around why was
the contract not renewed - was it a performance related, personality or some
other reason? This delay in the appointment also prevented the implementation
of a policy to enable colleagues who were unaware of the HSS from applying for
compensation.
3. The provision which has been made for applicants to obtain independent
legal advice in respect of their claims under the HSS and whether it is
adequate;
The NFSP is aware that a modest sum of £1200 is available for claimants to
seek legal advice. To the average person, this seems a significant sum
however, the NFSP is concerned this modest amount in legal terms may
prevent people having adequate time spent on their case.
4. The provision which has been made for interim payments pending
completion of dispute resolution procedures under the HSS.
The NFSP is not aware of any interim payment being made under the HSS.
B. Final Compensation for SPMs with Quashed Convictions
As the NFSP is not involved with the previous and ongoing court cases, we are
not involved with what the mechanism is nor how compensation will be
calculated. On that basis, our responses below are limited.
However, there are those who were charged and prosecuted by Post Office, who
did not receive a conviction but still lost their businesses, reputations and
investments in their respective businesses. These people have so far been
excluded from any compensation payments. It may be helpful to this group, if the
Inquiry was to consider them within this section.
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1. The principles which are being applied to the calculation of final
compensation payments;
In July 2021, the Government announced interim compensation for this group of
claimants up to £100,000 each. This payment should have been made within 28
days of the claimant applying.
The NFSP is not aware of the principles being applied so cannot comment any
further beyond that we would expect any such payments to include all heads of
loss incurred and that this could be concluded quickly for the benefit of the
claimant.
2. The mechanism(s) by which final compensation payments are being
calculated;
As has been widely reported an agreement was reached with POL and the
claimants which resulted in £57.75m in compensation being made available.
What we understand is that significant amounts of that total, was eaten up by
costs resulting in the claimants receiving far less than what they were
expecting. This was agreed between the claimants, POL and Government as a
full and final settlement. However, since then there have been calls for either a
further payment to be made or for POL or Government to pay the legal costs
that claimants incurred to ensure that they can receive a fairer compensation
package for the experiences they incurred.
In March 2022, the Postal Affairs Minister announced that additional funding
will be available to those affected although no further details have been
released. It is the view of the NFSP that it is imperative that the Government is
as open and transparent as possible on what the mechanism will be to ensure
these individuals receive proper and fair recompense for what they have
suffered.
Evidenced via the attached documentation, the NFSP has been quietly
working to lobby Post Office and Government to provide additional funding to
this group.
It is of considerable regret to the NFSP as Postmaster’s ourselves throughout
this period that former colleagues whether Postmaster, assistant or employee
of Post Office Ltd have been treated in the manner they have. With this in
mind we have tried to reach out to the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance on
several occasions, without response.
3. The provision (if any) which is being made for applicants to obtain
independent legal advice in relation to their claims;
The NFSP is aware that “reasonable legal costs” will be covered. However, this
term is ambiguous to the average person who may feel unsure what this really
means.
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Further, we cannot ignore that the legal process failed these people with
many highlighting during the Human Impact stage that by following legal
advice, they pled guilty which resulted in either a conviction or a custodial
sentence.
Therefore, it is imperative that proper legal advice is provided without fear that
they themselves will in the end have to cover unknown legal costs.
4. The procedure(s) which are being adopted to resolve disputes about the value
of final compensation payments.
The NFSP is not involved in this process and can offer no comment
C. Fair Compensation for the Group Litigation Claimants
As there is currently no public indication of what the mechanism will be to
calculate fair compensation for the Group Litigation claimants, it is difficult to
answer this section definitively. However, the NFSP would urge Government and
POL, to ensure there are no unnecessary delays in providing fair compensation to
this group of claimants.
1. The principles which will be applied to the calculation of further compensation
payments;
As the mechanism has not been announced, we cannot comment at this
stage.
2. The mechanism(s) by which further compensation payments will be
calculated;
As the mechanism has not been announced, we cannot comment at this
stage.
3. The provision (if any) which will be made for applicants to obtain independent
legal advice in relation to their claims;
As the mechanism has not been announced, we cannot comment at this
stage.
4. The procedure(s) which will be adopted to resolve disputes about the value of
further compensation payments.
As the mechanism has not been announced, we cannot comment at this
stage.
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