Witness Name: Christine Smyth
Statement No.: WITN06340100
Dated: 31/01/2023
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST STATEMENT OF CHRISTINE SMYTH
I, Christine Smyth, will say as follows...
INTRODUCTION
1. I started working as a counter clerk for the Post Office in March 1981, at
Lockerbie Post Office in Scotland. I transferred to Dumfries Post Office in 1983,
again as a counter clerk, where I assisted the TV enquiry team as needed. I
transferred to Portsmouth Branch Office (BO) in 1985, then to Southsea BO in
1986, but helped out occasionally at other local branches as needed. I then
worked for two years, 1988-90, as part of the training team based in Brighton,
training new Postmasters on site, also assisting the audit team if needed.
2.In 1990 I became Branch Manager at Western Road, Hove, for a short time,
before transferring to be Assistant Branch Manager at Fareham BO. I returned
to Portsmouth BO in 1991 as a counter clerk, where I remained until 2009 (?)
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when I then went to Waterlooville BO, quickly followed by Leigh Park BO. The
new Horizon was launched whilst I was at this office). I, once again transferred
back to Portsmouth BO as a counter clerk, and then joined the Training and
Audit team as a Field Support Advisor in 2012. I remained part of this team for
7 years, before taking voluntary redundancy in 2019.
BACKGROUND
3. Both Southsea BO and Portsmouth BO had counter training schools attached to
them, and trainees would often be brought to the counter for practical experience. I
often had trainees to supervise whilst at these offices, and never
had any issues either personally, or balancing.
4. Whilst at Leigh Park BO the New Horizon IT system was brought in. I was given a
folder of “screen shots” and basic transaction scenarios. The system
went live the following day, and I found it very intuitive to use.
5. On joining the Field Support team in 2010, I met my Team Leader, Jane Rattue,
and other members of her team. I was allocated an existing, experienced, person to
shadow (Natalie Liff). I then attended a week- long course in Maidstone to introduce
the requirements of the role.
6.1 shadowed Natalie for Audits, classroom training and on-site training for
approximately 4 months, gradually becoming more “hands on” and Natalie stepping
back. During this time I had regular contact with Jane, I sent in weekly
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reports on work covered, any issues, and areas I felt needed to be
developed. Jane regularly observed me “in action” and gave constructive
feedback. I had very limited experience of back office, multi stock unit
balancing so Jane ensured I had a good working knowledge of back office
procedures and reports, both for the running of an office and for audit purposes.
7. Training on the Horizon system was either classroom based (usually for the
Postmaster, but occasionally for other members of their team) or practical, in
branch.
8. Classroom training was delivered over 2 or 3 days, depending on job role
(Postmaster would get an extra day to cover back office balancing, sales and
troubleshooting).
9. All participants were given a folder with step-by-step instructions for using
Horizon to use whilst in the classroom. When leading a classroom course, it
was my job to make sure all the training material was up to date, the Horizon
system was working at all the terminals (usually eight), that all the practical
materials were available and that handouts covering balancing, remittances,
helpful phone numbers and other important issues were printed — ready to
give to the delegates.
10. Delegates were given multiple opportunities whilst in the classroom, to use the
Horizon equipment — I would initially explain the layout of the “Home Screen” to
them, the how they could look for information, we would ask questions
that required using the “Help” button. They would “take over” their stock unit
(check the cash and stock against the reports generated by Horizon), I would
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ask them to carry out several transactions to familiarize themselves with the
system, and they would then follow worksheet scenarios acting in turn as a
customer or a clerk. I would explain the difference of “Front Office” and
“Back Office”, and I would get them to do regular cash declarations, and they
would also balance their stock unit at least twice whilst they were with me,
once following me, the second time using the balancing sheet provided
(a copy of which I would give them to take away with them to use once in
branch). Postmasters were reminded to declare the cash as it actually was —
not what they thought it was, or thought it should be — that way discrepancies
would be spotted and rectified much sooner. All delegates were given multiple
opportunities to ask questions as these generally helped everyone else.
Delegates were given their own handouts, as previously mentioned, and I
always reminded them that the Helpline was there if they ever had a problem
that they couldn't resolve themselves. Each delegate was given feedback on
how they had done on the course, and this was also given to my line manager
and uploaded onto the All Branch Database, so that if anyone was visiting a
branch they could see how the branch was performing. Delegates were also
given feedback forms on myself and the training they had had (the most
common remarks were that I was great, and they had enjoyed the course and
had found it useful).
11. Once on-site I would usually work on a 1-2-1 basis with any staff requiring
training. Every person using the Horizon equipment had to have compliance
training, so this was one of the first things covered with new staff members.
12. Security was strictly enforced both for the staff member, and the Postmaster the
safety of their business, the Post Office, Royal Mail and Parcelforce and
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themselves depended on it. They were reminded not to share passwords, to keep
cash holdings to a minimum and make sure they logged off the system before
someone else served out of the stock unit. I would explain to staff the layout of the
Horizon screens, how to find less common transaction buttons, the difference
between “Front Office” and “Back Office”, how to do a cash declaration, how to look
for discrepancies, what to do if there was an issue. I often found that the handouts I
had given the postmaster in the classroom went missing, so I made a folder, specific
to that office, full of helpful information — the front of the folder had day to day useful
info (phone numbers, how to carry out infrequent transactions, how to reverse
transactions etc., the back of the folder would have mainly manager transactions
(balancing, remittances into and out of the office, stock ordering information, cash
declaration sheets etc.) this was left near the Post Office position and all staff were
able to access the information, should they need to.
13.1 would also stress to all staff the fact that the Helpline was available for them to
call, should there be ANY issue — and to phone sooner rather than later. All staff to be
trained were given as much time as the Postmaster could allocate to them, and in
shops that had part-time workers starting earlier or later than our normal 9 — 5.30
core hours I would often alter my working day to accommodate these staff members,
to ensure they had the same consistent training as everyone else. Any quiet periods I
would often become “the customer” and give the trainee practice, to build their
confidence. I would work in branch with the Postmaster and his staff for a period of
around 10 days, stepping back gradually as everyone gained experience. This time
period would cover two balances, the first following the helpsheet and with guidance,
the second balance I would encourage the postmaster to carry out the balance as
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much as possible on their own, again using the handout as a guide. After a few days
on their own, I would attend the following Wednesday for their “follow-up” balance,
where the staff were encouraged to complete the balance on their own, following the
process on the handout.
14. Every office I visited was given feedback on the training provided, and they also
were left feedback forms for them to complete on me, and the training
given (I usually had lovely comments). I also completed on-line reports for my
manager and reports were uploaded onto the national database, so that if
another team member/manager/investigator wanted any information regarding
the office, everything was in one place.
15.In all the years I used the Horizon system I never had any issues with the system,
nor was I aware of any issues whilst I was training. I have never heard of any office I
had contact with experiencing any issues with the Horizon system.
16. I was confident that any branch would have no issues so long as staff followed
procedures, didn't guess how to carry out transactions or correct errors and
contacted the Helpline if in any doubt.
Statement of Truth
I believe the content of this statement to be true.
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