The Post Office Inquiry; The Beginning Of The End?

The final phase of the Post Office Inquiry began on Monday 23 September. This marks the hopeful close of the Inquiry which began back in February 2022 and is looking into one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the UK.

This final phase is currently timetabled to last until mid-November and will look at current practice and procedure, along with recommendations for the future. Key witnesses like Henry Staunton (the former Chair of Post Office Limited) and Nick Read, (the Chief Executive of Post Office who recently resigned) are scheduled to give evidence during this period.

It has been a long road to get to this stage of the inquiry, but vital information and evidence has been given. Here is a summary of what has been covered so far:

Phase 1 – Human Impact

This was a sombre yet powerful start to the Inquiry, listening to evidence and reading the witness statements of those directly impacted by this scandal. It was eye-opening to see the lasting impact that this scandal has had. Evidence was heard from Core Participants represented by HJA including Seema Misra, Janet Skinner and Tracy Felstead, all of whom were given custodial sentences following their convictions. These convictions were eventually quashed in 2019. Evidence was also given from family members of those who had died before being able to give evidence at this Inquiry themselves.

Phase 2 – Horizon IT System

This Phase began in October 2022 and lasted a couple of months. It looked into the procurement, design, pilot, roll out and modifications made to the Horizon system. The witnesses who gave evidence from this phase, mainly consisted of those who worked for the Post Office and Fujitsu in a technical capacity during the time that the Horizon system was being created. We were able to see the various iterations and initial issues that stemmed with creating Horizon.

Phase 3 – Operation

Phase 3 looked into the training, assistance, resolution of disputes, knowledge and rectification of errors in the system that was provided to subpostmasters and subpostmistresses (SPMs). It was clear that training SPMs in the new system was inadequate and the helpdesk to assist SPMs, even worse.

Phase 4 – Action against Sub-postmasters and others

This Phase focused on policy making, audits and investigations, civil and criminal proceedings, knowledge of and responsibility for failures in investigation and disclosure. Time was spent looking into some of the civil and criminal cases and asking questions to those who would have been involved in these cases from start to finish, such as investigators and lawyers.

One of the civil cases was that of Lee Castleton, a name that may be familiar to those who have seen the ITV programme, Mr Bates vs The Post Office as he was portrayed in this. Lee, who is another Core Participant represented by HJA, had made 91 phone calls to the Post Office Helpdesk over the course of 12 weeks when his accounts were not balancing. He had asked to be audited in order to get assistance with working out why he had discrepancies. Instead of help, he was pursued for the losses and ultimately ended up representing himself against the Post Office in Court.

Phase 5 and 6

This most recent phase was initially due to be dealt with as two separate phases, but due to the Inquiry already lasting longer than anticipated, the Chair announced on 2 February 2024 that he would be merging Phase 5 and 6 together, as they concerned so many issues which overlapped, that to consider them separately would be artificial and time consuming.

As such, this phase looked at a variety of issues, namely: Redress, access to justice, Second Sight, Complaint Review and Mediation Scheme, conduct of the group litigation, responding to the scandal, governance, monitoring of Horizon, contractual arrangements, internal and external audit, technical competence, stakeholder engagement, oversight and whistleblowing.

We were able to hear from Paula Vennells, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Post Office who was asked whether she was the ‘unluckiest CEO in history’ having been CEO from 2012 to 2019, a key time period in this scandal.

Another important witness who gave evidence in this phase was Gareth Jenkins, former distinguished Engineer at Fujitsu. His evidence actually covered the themes of Phase 3 – 6 as he had previously been scheduled to give evidence in the earlier phases, but due to disclosure failings by the Post Office during the course of the Inquiry, his evidence had to be postponed to allow him, and other core participants, time to consider key documents relating to him.

It has been clear throughout the evidence in each phase that there were many issues that led to, and exacerbated the unjust treatment of many SPM’s. The final phase will help to show what current practice and procedure is taking place and hopefully provide much needed recommendations for the future.

The Crime Team at Hodge Jones & Allen been representing a number of SPM’s as Core Participants in the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. The Civil Liberties & Human Rights Team and Dispute Resolution Team also represent SPM’s in respect of compensation claims. If you, or anyone you know, is a victim of the Post Office Scandal or have similar issues please call us now on 0808 278 8389 or email our legal experts at postofficeclaims@hja.net