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EWU
The communications union
9" December 2024
CWU Written Closing Statement to Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry
Introduction
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is the largest union in the communications sector in the
UK, representing approximately 165,000 members. We are the recognised trade union for all non-
managerial employee grades in the Post Office Limited (POL), where we have members in all sections
of the business. The CWU has approximately 300 postmasters in CWU membership, but POL continues
to refuse to grant the CWU recognition on their behalf.
The CWU welcomes the opportunity to provide a closing written statement to the Inquiry. As one of
the key Post Office stakeholders who called for a full judge-led Inquiry at an early stage* and pushed
for it to be converted to a statutory footing,” we are pleased that the Inquiry has taken place and that
it has been so comprehensive. The CWU congratulates the Inquiry for the way it has conducted itself
so diligently in examining the failures associated with the Post Office Horizon IT system.
As a Core Participant, the CWU has given oral evidence to the Inquiry and provided several written
submissions and witness statements since 2020. In this short closing statement, we emphasise our
main concerns about the failures surrounding the Horizon debacle that still persist today, as
demonstrated by much of the evidence that has emerged during the course of the Inquiry. We also
highlight the changes we believe are necessary to ensure such a scandal cannot happen again. These
centre on problems associated with the representation of postmasters, Post Office culture,
governance, accountability, strategic direction and funding.
CWU Key objectives for Post Office reform
As the Post Office Horizon Inquiry draws to a close and prepares to report on its findings and
recommendations, the CWU considers that the following objectives are essential for Post Office
reform:
e Independent representation of postmasters through a recognised trade union.
« A fundamental change to the POL culture of institutional failure, denial and protectionism that
led to the scandal.
e A Post Office governance system that is fit for purpose.
¢ Real accountability for those responsible for running the Post Office, including the POL
leadership past and present and Government representatives.
1 CWU: CWU pressure secures public inquiry into Horizon scandal URN: RLIT0000502
2 CWU: Horizon scandal: CWU keeps up pressure for judge led inquiry URN: RLIT0000504
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¢ Amodern, reliable IT system and contractual protections for subpostmasters against blame for
future IT system errors.
e Agenuine strategic n for the future of the Post Office focused on revenue diversification
and growth, along with good pay and conditions for employees and meaningful remuneration
for postmasters that reflects their contribution to the business.
e Sufficient Government funding and support to maintain the Post Office network and ensure
that the Post Office can deliver the high quality public service that local communities and
businesses need.
Independent representation of postmasters is vital for their future protection
We urge the Inquiry to make recommendations on the future of postmaster representation as part
of its final report. The failed model of representation that existed during the scandal and was a
barrier to justice for postmasters remains largely in place today.
The Inquiry has exposed the lack of effective representation for postmasters as a significant
contributory factor in POL’s persecution of innocent people. One of the most important ways to
ensure that such a scandal never happens again is to introduce effective, independent representation
for postmasters through trade union recognition.
The CWU represents 300 postmaster members, which is just a fraction of the 7,000 postmasters across
the UK. The CWU has worked hard since setting up our postmaster branch in 2011 to alert
postmasters to Horizon related problems, to defend our postmaster members who have been falsely
accused of wrongdoing, and to highlight our serious concerns about Horizon system failures.
However, POL has consistently denied the CWU recognition for postmasters, making it impossible for
the union to secure the same kind of collective agreements that have proved so effective in helping
to protect CWU represented Post Office employees from unjust treatment.
The National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) is the official representative body for postmasters
with around 6,700 members. POL has persisted in promoting the NFSP as the only representative
body for subpostmasters, despite the Horizon trial judge criticising the NFSP’s lack of independence
and its failure to represent its members.
POL does not formally recognise the NFSP for collective bargaining purposes, and continues to fund
the organisation through a 15 year contract starting in 2015 which involves stringent conditions
including that the NFSP shall not engage in any activity which may be detrimental to POL. The Inquiry
has heard how the POL leadership knew that this agreement would undermine the NFSP’s
independence, but they entered into it anyway because “if the NFSP failed, they would be replaced by
a Union, possibly the CWU”?
POL claims that it has revised the Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) with the NFSP so that the NFSP can
‘act independently from the Post Office’ *, but the precise nature of these changes has not been made
public, and the Post Office recently refused an FOI request for the release of correspondence regarding
ss Statement I Post Off
wit 0 dair Ca a IT Inquiry URN: WITN09840100
* corporate.postoffice.co.uk/en/horizon-scandal-pages/changing-our-culture/ URN: RLITO000500
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the negotiation of the new GFA on grounds of public interest.> This does not instil confidence that the
GFA has evolved in any meaningful way, orthat POL has done anything to move away from its culture
of secrecy and non-disclosure.
The NFSP’s new leadership has apologised unreservedly to any member who sought help from the
NFSP about Horizon and didn’t receive the support, stating the NFSP’s relationship with POL was too
close and that this is not the case today.° Despite these assurances, the fundamental basis of the
NFSP’s relationship with POL that proved such an impediment to justice for postmasters during the
Horizon scandal, in particular the NFSP’s complete financial dependence on POL, remains unchanged.
The Post Office culture of corporate protectionism and abuse of power must end
There has long been and still remains a serious cultural problem in POL rooted in a lack of
transparency and accountability, which has allowed POL leaders to act with impunity. It is clear
from evidence gathered throughout the Inquiry that this was a major factor in the abuse of power,
corporate complacency and protectionism, bullying and mistreatment of Postmasters, denials,
cover ups and false evidence on display throughout the Horizon scandal.
When asked recently about what is being done to address the ‘toxic’ culture at the Post Office, the
Post Office Chairman Nigel Railton said that POL is changing the culture actively now, including
through the ‘new deal for postmasters’ which follows a strategic review he initiated.”
However, the CWU believes that the Post Office Chair’s approach to the strategic review demonstrates
no change in culture at POL. The Post Office failed to engage with the CWU - as a recognised union
and a key stakeholder - in the preparation of the strategic plan and instead presented it as virtually
fully formed, with only some future refinement as things progress.® This is extraordinary given the
direct implications of the plan for both postmasters and Post Office employees, including the potential
closure of 115 Crown Offices and the subsequent loss of 1,000 jobs. As the CWU said of the Post Office
closure announcements, it seems that POL has learned no lessons from its chaotic and uncoordinated
mistakes of the past.
We would also point to the ‘grossly unsatisfactory disclosure failures during the Horizon Inquiry
which contributed to significant delays, and relevant documentation being missed or incorrectly
excluded.'! This further demonstrates a continuation of the Post Office culture of corporate secrecy
and protectionism that is central to the Horizon scandal.
5 Grant Funding Agreement with NESP -a Freedom of Information request to Post Office Limited-
WhatDoTheyKnow URN: RLITO000505
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7 Oral evidence: Post Office Horizon scandal: fast and
fair redress, HC 341, 19" November 2024, available at: Oral evidence transcript URN: RLITO000507
5 corporate. postoffice.co.uk/en/purpose-strategy/strategic-review-2024/strategic-review-launch/ URN:
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° CWU: CWU slam Post Office closure announcements. URN: RLIT0000503
30 Chair to hear submissions on “grossly unsatisfactory” disclosure update from Post Office I Post Office
Horizon IT Inquiry URN: RLITOO00499
+1 How legal disclosure failures disrupted the Post Office Horizon inquiry I Computer Weekly URN:
RLITOOO0S06
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Governance of POL must be made fit for purpose
The Inquiry has laid bare the serious failures in Post Office governance that have given rise to the
Horizon scandal. We believe the Government must introduce a substantial change in approach to
governance and oversight of POL, which genuinely involves trade unions, employees, postmasters
and customers, and will prioritise the delivery of Post Office services and the needs of workers and
Post Office users.
The Inquiry has exposed the inadequacy of the arms-length relationship between the Government, as
the sole shareholder of the Post Office, and POL who were allowed to operate without any effective
oversight or intervention. It is clear that the new measures introduced by the Government to establish
closer monitoring of POL, referenced by the Inquiry in 2021", do not go nearly far enough.
Since then we have witnessed serious governance failures in POL, including the scandal in May 2023
that saw POL executives pay themselves tens of thousands of pounds in bonuses for taking part in the
ongoing Horizon inquiry and the Post Office annual report 2021/22 falsely claiming that the Inquiry
Chair had confirmed the target on this metric had been met. UK Government Investments (UKGI)
oversees government’s 100% shareholding in Post Office on behalf of BEIS and holds a seat on the POL
Board. The UKGI representative on the POL Board was heavily criticised for not telling officials for 5
weeks until after it was revealed about the bonus metric mistake in POL’s annual report. This clearly
demonstrates the ongoing failures of a governance system that is simply not fit for purpose, and is
resulting in POL overseeing scandal after scandal.
POL’s decision to appoint two postmasters to its board as non-executive directors in an attempt to
move on from the scandal and reflect the views of postmasters has proven to be an empty gesture.
The Inquiry has heard that the postmaster board members have been actively excluded from board
meetings, denied access to committee documents and deliberately kept in the dark about key
decisions.’
Accountability is key to restoring trust and changing POL’s culture
Evidence presented to the Inquiry shows that there has been a long running history of obfuscation,
secrecy, cover-ups and incompetence for which, as yet, no one has been called to account. The
Government must introduce accountability for the POL leadership and the Government’s
representatives who are responsible for oversight of POL.
The Government is the Post Office’s sole shareholder, yet they have consistently failed to introduce
accountability for the POL leadership. POL executives who presided over the IT scandal have been
allowed to leave with a golden handshake and their pensions intact, whilst recently departed
executives awarded themselves huge sums for achieving a Horizon related performance target that
was found to be fabricated. Meanwhile, the Government's representatives on the UKGI have failed
to scrutinise POL’s activities in any meaningful way or alert the Government to the Horizon scandal
and subsequent governance issues.
” Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: call >. URN: RLITO000508
2 Board member spells out Post Office executive dysfunction— Post Office Scandal URN: RLIT0000498
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It cannot be right that so far, the only people who have been punished are the victims of the scandal.
Agenuine system of accountability must be urgently introduced in POL to restore trust in the business,
fix POL’s toxic culture, and ensure such a scandal cannot be allowed to happen again.
An IT system that works effectively
One of the most important measures needed to protect POL employees and postmasters from false
accusations is to ensure that the organisation’s IT system is fit for purpose.
The CWU is concerned that the plan to replace the problematic Horizon IT system appears to be in
disarray after news that it faces long delays and rising costs. We believe the Government must commit
to providing the necessary funding to ensure that the Post Office IT system is fully functional, reliable
and trustworthy. We also want to see new contractual protections for postmasters against blame for
future IT system errors.
Strategic vision and adequate future funding
An important part of resetting the relationship with postmasters and ensuring that POL properly
values its contractors and employees, is to develop a genuine strategic vision for the Post Office to
survive and thrive for the long term.
We believe the Government and the Post Office must work with trade unions and other stakeholders
to build a plan for revenue diversification and growth, along with secure jobs on good pay and
conditions for employees, and meaningful remuneration for postmasters that reflects their
contribution to the business.
In addition, the Government must provide adequate funding and support to maintain the Post Office
network, including Crown Post Offices, and to ensure that the Post Office can continue to deliver a
high quality public service that local communities and businesses rely on.
For further information on the view of the CWU contact:
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Communication Workers Union
150 The Broadway
London
SW19 1RX
Email:
Telephone:
9" December 2024