The Post Office’s boss met former subpostmasters about the future and was warned the business could not move forward without action on financial redress and clearing out staff members involved in the scandal.
Former Post Office branch owners and members of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) Jo Hamilton and Mark Kelly described a “useful meeting” with acting CEO Neil Brocklehurst, but had harsh warnings for the man in charge of the troubled organisation.
Hamilton, who featured in ITV’s dramatisation of the Post Office scandal, and Kelly are part of the group of 555 former subpostmasters who exposed the scandal through a High Court group litigation order (GLO) in 2018–19.
Hamilton said she was encouraged with “what appears to be a willingness to listen”.
“It feels like a huge step in the right direction,” she added.
But there were warnings to the acting CEO. “I warned him that his priority must be to settle financial redress with victims, especially the 300 GLO subpostmasters who haven’t settled, by next March, otherwise the business could not move on,” said Hamilton.
She also warned that the Post Office must remove any staff who had involvement in the scandal. “The other urgent matter was to change the culture by ridding the business of anybody who had anything to do with the scandal,” said Hamilton. “Only then would the business have any chance of a future.”
Hamilton and others vs Post Office
Hamilton, the former Hampshire subpostmaster who had her wrongful conviction for false accounting overturned in 2021 in the landmark Hamilton and others vs Post Office case, added that Brocklehurst asked to be judged on what he does. “Fingers crossed we have a glimmer of light in the darkest hour of Post Office,” she said.
A Post Office spokesperson said the acting CEO is meeting postmasters past and present regularly “to gain insight, advice and collaboration in moving the business forwards to achieve a new deal for postmasters”.
JFSA chair Sir Alan Bates, who led the campaign for justice, said he has not been contacted by anyone, be that the Post Office or government, to discuss the future of the Post Office. He agreed with Hamilton that the Post Office must first complete the financial redress for all victims and remove people involved in the scandal. “They need to clear out all the outstanding issues,” he said.
Bates added that everything else, including a proposed mutualisation of the Post Office, is a distraction “from dealing with the real problems”.
Waiting for a reply
Bates added that he is still waiting for a reply from the Prime Minster to a letter he wrote at the beginning of this month, warning that if government is not capable of completing financial redress for victims of the Post Office scandal by March next year, it should appoint an independent organisation to do the job, or face court action.
Kelly, who was at the meeting with the Post Office acting CEO with Hamilton, ran a Post Office branch in Swansea, before unexplained shortfalls on the Horizon system devastated his life.
The JFSA member said it’s good that the Post Office is talking to former and current subpostmasters, but that many don’t think the organisation has leant anything. “Especially with people involved in the scandal such as Rodric Williams and Stephen Bradshaw not only on the payroll, but in positions they can still do harm,” he said.
Kelly, who studied a computer science degree at Cardiff University, added that his biggest worry was the Post Office replacing the Horizon system with custom-made software rather than an off-the-shelf alternative.
The Post Office spokesperson said: “As our chairman has said to the inquiry, a Horizon ‘like for like’ replacement cannot logically be the best platform to build a new deal for postmasters and the future direction of Post Office. Engaging with groups representing postmasters, as well as individual postmasters, on issues such as branch technology is critical in helping us to build that new deal for postmasters and will result in the roll-out of technology that postmasters want for their customers and their communities.”
Computer Weekly revealed earlier that the Post Office is set to ditch its plan to build a new core branch system in-house and buy an off-the-shelf alternative.
The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history (see below timeline of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal since 2009).
• Also read: What you need to know about the Horizon scandal •
• Also watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The real story •
• Also read: Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means huge taxpayers’ bill •