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Witness Name: Christopher Bowman
Statement No.: WITNO7770100
Dated: 23 March 2023
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER BOWMAN
I, Christopher Bowman, will say as follows...
INTRODUCTION
1. This statement responds to a request for a written witness statement made to
myself under the inquiry rules 2006 to rule 9 (request number 1) regarding
training.
2. The inquiry believes that I hold information relevant to the issues which will be
investigated by the inquiry. However, as it relates to events that occurred up to
twenty-four years ago, there may be areas that I cannot recall and in such cases
I have stated.
3. This statement has been drafted by myself and in my own words.
BACKGROUND
4. Leaving school in 1986 with various GCSE and CSE qualifications I was offered
a position on the post office YT scheme, initially starting out under the guidance
of sub postmaster Peter Covey.
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5.
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In 1988 I was successful in an interview for a vacant postal officer position
based at Guisborough Crown Office until its closure in 1990. During this
time, I carried out general post officer duties which included the general
serving of customers, dealing with benefit payments, postal services and
other government department transactions. All of which would culminate in
producing a weekly balance and office cash account collating each
individuals' weekly summaries using a manual process.
On closure I was transferred to Thornaby Crown Office, initially under the
management of Jean Stockley before her retirement shortly afterwards and
then under the guidance of William Wood. My time at Thornaby would often
see me substituting covering the roles of the deputy manager and often
covering the relief of other branch staff shortages.
In August 1998 I was offered the opportunity of joining the ‘Testing
Programme’ which included, robust testing of the ‘Benefits Encaptured
System' based at Borough High Street in London and subsequently ICL
Pathway in Feltham. This was my first experience of using the Horizon
System, still in its very early form. During this secondment we would follow
scripts to process transactions and BES card payments. We would help
find and resolve issues prior to the intended national roll out. I believe the
BES payment card scheme was scrapped in early 1999 and was never
national rolled out.
In September 1999 I was asked to join the Horizon Project in the position of
a Horizon Field Support Officer (HFSO) and remained in that role until
project completion in 2002.
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9. I completed my post office service after nearly twenty years in 2008 whilst
based at Billingham branch office when taking EVR.
10.In September 1999 I joined the Horizon Project as a HFSO. Initial training
was an intensive six-week course held in the Midland Hotel, Bradford. Myself
and several other HFSO were trained on all aspects of the Horizon system in
a classroom environment, once again working from scripts to produce weekly
balances, using all help material to guide us to reach and resolve any issues
that arose from its operation. We also learned all about migration and how to
achieve the smooth transition between the manual and automated systems. I
remember the last week of training been quite intense, covering several
examinations of our capabilities in qualifying as a HFSO, being prepared to
assist post masters and staff in the roll out of Horizon.
11. My responsibilities as a HFSO were to aid staff in both sub and crown offices
and help in the transition between manual and automated systems, spending
time with each and every employee to enable an understanding in the
operating of the Horizon System. The role would entail contacting offices the
week before migration and install. Updating the postmaster on what would be
required to aid the smooth transition of migration between systems. All staff at
this point had received off site training and attended seminars on procedures.
Arriving in branch on migration day would invariably be after install. We would
escalate and resolve any issues around installation if required, before aiding
the sub postmaster and staff with balance requirements before migration could
take place. Some post masters could initially be hostile to our presence, more
in apprehension regarding the process. I would always try and ease
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their fears using my personality to form a rapport with all staff making
transition and training less stressful.
12.All issues I found around migration seemed to come from the migration of
what were deemed to be call suspense accounts; i.e. unclaimed payments
and uncharged receipt sections of the old post office cash sheet. In these
sections were all receipts taken after final despatch and any error notices
issued and currently outstanding. If I recall these accounts were migrated at
two different levels during the process and could take some configuring at
which level the figures should be entered. From experience this seemed the
biggest cause if mis migrations and did cause initial concern from post
masters. Personally, I cannot remember having any serious issues
surrounding the suspense account migration, but was aware of issues
encountered by fellow HFSO's. These mis migrations I believe were
escalated and initially dealt with by ICL who would process a patch to
resolve outstanding errors. I would always spend the three days on site been
as thorough as possible, and aim to cover any transactions staff maybe
struggling with, I would often stay after hours to help staff understand certain
processes, always encouraging the use of manuals and helplines when
possible. I would always try build up friendships to increase confidence on
the use of the Horizon System.
13.Some sub post masters could be very negative, which could obstruct what
was being taught, but these scenarios were very rare. All staff during our time
on site were made aware of all helplines and encouraged to use help
available and although not advised I would always leave my mobile number,
to aid with issues after my attendance. I would also make follow up phone
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calls to make sure all was ok. We would continue to support staff through the
first balance and cash account, this would take place in either a revisit or
during our time on site. Times during the initial transition were tough for some
and extra training would always be flagged by myself where I thought
necessary. Post masters and staff were always left the Horizon manuals and
all telephone numbers for helplines available, as well as been shown how to
access training mode. As regards to the system operation I never personally
experienced any serious malfunction whilst in attendance, that couldn't be
resolved through relevant help and support desks or by myself on site.
14. HFSO's were managed in small regional teams by an immediate line
manager, mine been Brian Corderey. This person was the first point of
contact if raising issues surrounding install or migration. We also had an out
of hours admin team when working late to inform of our whereabouts on
completion of migration.
15.In reality looking back our three days on site was never enough to cover all
aspects of system operation, hence although strictly against post office policy
I would leave my contact details as mentioned in a previous paragraph. I
personally always tried to ease people's apprehensions and fears around the
systems use. To some this was a massive undertaking, in the transition from
manual to an automated system. I appreciate how daunting this must have
been to post masters who had no previous experience of automation.
16.1 would always endeavour to find resolve in any issues surrounding Horizons
usage, often working with the experiences of other HF SO's if necessary, to
obtain the relevant information required. I would always encourage the use of
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17.
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best practice, using my experience I had gained in my role, often staying after
hours to find answers to the post masters concerns.
As previously stated, I cannot remember being aware of any errors, bugs or
defects in the systems operation that wasn’t human error. These mistakes
were usually rectified on site by the use of Horizons reversal system, I would
endeavour to correct any pending mistakes whilst present on site, using this
process as part of my training programme. I was aware of concerns
surrounding the migration of the suspense accounts, and issues this may
have caused if incorrectly translated. This was an issue usually corrected by
ICL in the form of a correction patch.
Statement of Truth
I believe the
Signed:
Dated:
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