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Witness Name: Joanne Collier
Statement No.: WITN07940100
Dated: 23 March 2023
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WITNESS STATEMENT OF JOANNE COLLIER
I, JOANNE COLLIER, will say as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1. lam a former employee of Post Office Ltd and held the positions of, Horizon
Field Support Officer (HFSO) from 2000 to 2001 which involved the on-site
migration of accounting data from a sub-postmaster’ s existing accounting system
to the Horizon system, on-site support to staff during the first two days following
go-live and on-site support to the sub-postmaster for the first weekly balance on
Horizon. Service Support Advisor at the Network Business Support Centre
(NBSC) from 2001 to December 2005, providing Tier 2 support to Post Office
branches on the provision of Post Office products and services and the
production of the end of week accounts.
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2. This witness statement is made to assist the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry
(the “ Inquiry” ) with the matters set out in the Rule 9 Request dated
3 January 2023 (the “ Request” ).
BACKGROUND
3. I have been asked to describe the training/instruction received and experiences
of the Horizon IT project, working in the NBSC and as a HFSO, the training and
advice/assistance provided to sub-postmasters, and whether I was aware of any
bugs, errors or defects within the Horizon IT system.
4. It should be noted that it is seventeen years since I left Post Office Ltd and the
details of my employment have faded and are no longer as defined as they once
were. I have, however, responded to the Request to the best of my ability and
the areas I cannot recall have been stated.
5. In respect of training/instruction received and experiences of working as a HFSO
and later, in the NBSC. The training for the HFSO role took place over a
two-week period and covered the use of the Horizon IT system for every day
transactions and the end of day and end of week accounting procedure, as well
as training on HFSO-specific tasks, such as the procedure for the migration of
data. Instruction was also provided on the administrative requirements such as
receipt of weekly work pattern, initial office contact, timesheets, expenses etc.
6. HFSOs were part of a team covering a set geographical area and were managed
by a team leader. As stated above, the work of a HFSO centered around the
branch migration from the existing accounting system to the Horizon system, two
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days on-site support following migration and on-site support with the first weekly
balance. Generally speaking, the HFSO who had migrated the branch would
also provide the on-site support, but not always. A different HFSO would attend
the following week to provide support for the end of week balance. For on-site
support the HFSO had a copy of the Horizon User Guide and access to the
NBSC, as well as contact with team members and the team leader.
Working patterns varied and could change at the last minute. For example, one
week may include a team meeting on Tuesday, balance support on Wednesday
lunchtime, a migration on Wednesday evening followed by on-site support on
Thursday and Friday. Equally, there could be a migration on Monday night,
on-site support on Tuesday and Wednesday (this would also incorporate the first
end of week balance support), another migration on Thursday followed by
on-site support on Friday and Saturday. There was no typical week. A
pre-migration call would also be made to the office(s) the HFSO would be visiting
the following week.
I can only remember one occasion where a sub-postmaster told me he would not
open his branch without further on-site support. This was following an extremely
busy two days with a lot of pre-Christmas footfall. I escalated this request but I
now cannot be certain who to, but it would have been either the team dealing
with HFSO attendance or my team leader. I do not know the outcome.
There was no additional Horizon training for working in the NBSC but instruction
was given on the use of the call logging system and the knowledge base support
tool used to assist in call resolution.
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10. As with HFSOs, Tier 2 advisors were grouped in teams with the oversight of a
team leader. Calls received at Tier 2 were ones for which there was no
immediate answer and/or required further investigation and as such could not be
resolved at Tier 1. I seem to remember that the majority of these were in relation
to products and services or balance queries. As well as the knowledge base, a
Tier 2 advisor would have access to more experienced team members and
colleagues in other disciplines for advice and guidance.
11.1 do not recall receiving any calls relating to requests for additional Horizon
support.
12. In respect of the training and advice/assistance provided to sub-postmasters, I
do not know how much training was provided. However, during time spent as a
HFSO, a number of postmasters felt the length of time between training and
go-live was excessively long.
13. In respect of any bugs, errors or defects within the Horizon IT system, I can
recall only one call from a sub-postmaster regarding a misbalance of a
significant loss. After completing a number of checks and double-checks, the
sub-postmaster was asked to send in copies of the final balance report from the
previous week and the trial balance from the current week, along with a number
of other reports. It transpired that the total value of cash and stock in the office
the previous week had not been carried over to the current week, resulting in the
misbalance in the following week. This was cascaded to the Horizon helpdesk
and a manager/team at NBSC. I did not hear anything further regarding this.
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14. With regard to anything else of which the Chair should be aware of, I cannot
bring to mind any further information which would be of benefit.
Statement of Truth
Dated: 23 March 2023
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