UKGI00013907 - Letter from Norman Lamb MP to Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP Re: suspension as subpostmaster

Evidence on official site

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Norman Lamb MP.
Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP Our ref: 299077
House of Commons Your ref:KJB/SW
London
SW1A OAA
June 2012

Thank you for your letter of 31 May enclosing correspondence from your

“I about his wife’s suspension as subpostmaster at

Biainpton Post Office.

I should first explain that the issue raised by Mr Holmes is an operational and
contractual matter for Post Office Ltd (POL) and Mrs Watson and that neither I
nor the Department can intervene in such cases. I understand that Mrs
Watson has appealed against POL’s decision and a date for the appeal
hearing has been set.

In cases of suspension and termination of contract, subpostmasters are
contractually entitled to be accompanied at appeal hearings by a National
Federation of SubPostmasters’ representative or friend. Appeals are heard
by a senior POL manager not previously involved in the case and legal
avenues are also available if the subpostmaster continues to feel his contract
has been wrongly terminated.

I note that Mr Watson attributes the loss on the ATM identified at audit to
errors with the Horizon computer system on which all post offices operate.
However, POL has expressed full confidence in the accuracy and reliability at
all times of the Horizon system.

They have emphasised that the Horizon system has been subjected to full,
independently-assured, robust testing procedures whilst the system’s
information security processes meet the relevant industry standards which
apply to such organisations as banks and building societies. POL have also
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confirmed that the Horizon system provides detailed records of every
transaction, no matter how small or large, in any individual Post Office branch,
with a separate secure tamper proof transaction log which provides the detail
of all transactions from each counter within the network.

The system is based on the principles of ‘double entry book keeping’. If an
accounting issue is identified at a particular branch (which may have been
caused by, for example, incorrect keying of a transaction by the
subpostmaster), there are full processes in place between POL’s central
accounting team and the individual subpostmaster to investigate and resolve
such issues and identify the responsibility. It is important to note that these are
the kinds of issues that can occur in all businesses (incorrect data entries by
branch staff, incorrect amounts of cash recorded etc). These are user issues
and not examples of the Horizon system itself creating errors. All
subpostmasters and branch managers are able to utilize the reporting
functions within Horizon and to perform counts of their cash and stock in order
to confirm their accounting position on a timely basis.

NORMAN LAMB MP