POST OFFICE: HORIZON SCANDAL – INDEPENDENT REVIEW AND EDM 593

Further to LTB 297/20 Dated 5th June.

Branches and members will hopefully have had the opportunity to watch Monday night’s Panorama show “Scandal at the Post Office” in which the journalist Nick Wallis investigated what the BBC described as “what could be Britain’s biggest ever miscarriage of justice scandal” with “evidence of a cover-up at the Post Office”. The hard-hitting programme highlighted the cases of several former Postmasters who have suffered terribly after being falsely accused and convicted of theft and/or false accounting. In addition, the BBC Radio 4 Programme – “the Great Post Office Trial” featured the harrowing stories of several more ex Postmasters who were wrongly dismissed and in some cases convicted for accounting shortfalls.

Following the Panorama show, we published a web story which can be accessed via the link below:

https://www.cwu.org/news/bbcs-panorama-brings-horizon-scandal-into-the-public- eye/

Government Announcement – “Independent Review” into Horizon Scandal

The CWU has been calling for a Judge-led independent public inquiry into this national scandal and we thought we had secured this following the commitment given by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 26th February in response to a question from Kate Osborne, Labour MP for Jarrow.

Yesterday, Paul Scully MP, Small Business and Postal Affairs Minister announced there would be an “Independent Review” into the Horizon scandal, although it should be noted this will not be led by a Judge. The Chair (who has not yet been appointed) will though be independent of the Post Office and government.

The statement from Paul Scully was as follows:

“I am today announcing the scope of the Independent Review into the Post Office Horizon IT System and Trials which the Prime Minister committed to on 26th February 2020. This followed Post Office Ltd reaching a settlement, in December 2019, of £57.75m to conclude a long-running case brought against it by a group of postmasters over issues related to Post Office’s Horizon IT system…

Government wants to be fully assured that through the review there is a public summary of the failings that occurred at Post Office Ltd, drawing on the judgments from the Horizon case and by listening to those that have been most affected; that lessons have genuinely been learned; and that concrete changes have taken place at Post Office Ltd to ensure that this situation will never be repeated. For these reasons Government has decided to establish an Independent Review.

The Independent Review shall:

Understand and acknowledge what went wrong in relation to Horizon, leading to the Group Litigation Order, by drawing on evidence from the Horizon judgments and affected postmasters’ experiences and identify what key lessons must be learned for the future;

Assess whether the Post Office Ltd has learned the lessons from the criticisms made by Mr Justice Fraser in the “Common Issues” and “Horizon Issues” trials and those identified by affected postmasters and has delivered or made good progress on the organisational and cultural changes necessary to ensure a similar case does not happen in the future;

Assess whether the commitments made by Post Office Ltd within the mediation settlement – including the historical shortfall scheme – have been properly delivered;

Assess whether the processes and information provided by Post Office Ltd to postmasters are sufficient to i) enable both parties to meet their contractual obligations; and ii) to enable postmasters to run their businesses. This includes assessing whether Post Office Ltd’s related processes such as recording and resolving postmaster queries, dispute handling, suspension and termination are fit for purpose. In addition, determine whether the quality of the service offer for postmasters and their relationship with Post Office Ltd has materially improved since the conclusions by Mr Justice Fraser; and

Examine the governance and whistleblowing controls now in place at Post Office Ltd and whether they are sufficient to ensure that the failings that led to the Horizon case issues do not happen again.

The Review will be led by an independent chair who will be announced in due course alongside final timings and terms of reference for the Review.

The Review shall set out Post Office Ltd’s actions in response to the findings of Mr Justice Fraser. While avoiding a re-examination of the findings made by Mr Justice Fraser through the lengthy court proceedings, it must use these and the experiences of affected postmasters as the basis for its work. The Review should not encroach on the work of the Criminal Case Review Commission and the Court of Appeal. The Review should make any recommendations it sees fit, including actions that may, in its view, be appropriate as a result of its findings. The final report will be laid in the Libraries of both Houses upon completion of the review.

In a news story to accompany the above, Paul Scully stated “We are keen to see the review launch as soon as possible, and the publication of draft terms of reference today is an important step toward this.”

Clearly this is a step in the right direction; however in our view it does not go far enough. Our real concern is there will be an inadequate outcome and follow-up to the review’s recommendations which will not be binding on government. Indeed it is not clear who will be responsible for the actions of the review’s findings and we obviously wouldn’t want the final report to be merely “laid in the Libraries of both Houses” gathering dust.

Urgent Question Session – Horizon – House of Commons, 10th June 2020

Yesterday an urgent Question session took place in the House of Commons just after PMQs, brought about by Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central and Shadow Minister for Digital, Science and Technology. The question was as follows:

“To ask the Secretary of State…. what steps the Government is taking to support sub-postmasters wrongly convicted in the Post Office Horizon scandal”

Chi Onwurah described the Horizon scandal as “the largest miscarriage of justice in our history” and insisted “We need an inquiry not simply to learn lessons but to get to the truth. Only a Judge-led inquiry can do that with the Post Office compelled to cooperate. Will the minister now agree to the Judge-led inquiry we need? It is the very least the victims deserve. We need answers not more delay. We will not rest until we get this and justice for all those wronged in this scandal”.

The question session lasted for just over an hour and the Minister Paul Scully was given a particularly difficult time in regards to his decision not to appoint a Judge to lead an inquiry into the Horizon scandal but instead to launch an independent review. There was a barrage of questions urging the Minister to reconsider and deliver a proper Judge-led inquiry, with almost 20 MPs across all parties calling for this.

A link to the recording of the session is as follows:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000kbft/house-of-commons-postmaster- convictions-urgent-question

During the session there were also calls for all Postmasters to be compensated properly given that all bar £11m of the £58m settlement for those 557 Postmaster involved in the Group Litigation Order will go towards legal costs.

Also, there were calls for former Senior Post Office executives to be questioned with Jerome Mayhew, Conservative MP for Broadland stating “One of the great frustrations to date has been the refusal of the former senior management of the Post Office to answer detailed questions on this issue and to be held to account. Will …. individual culpability of senior management figures within the Post Office be part of this review?”.

Karl Turner, Labour MP for Kingston Upon Hull East, who featured in the Panorama show and has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of Postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal stated “Many hundreds of Postmasters were forced to pay back many thousands of pounds to the Post Office. Monies which were never in fact never owed or indeed missing. That in itself Mr Speaker should trigger a criminal investigation. How much of that money went to pay the previous Chief Executive’s £5m salary? And … why… can you not accept that only a Judge will get to the bottom of this miscarriage of justice?”

The stock response from the Minister to many of the questions was that a Judge-led inquiry would be extremely lengthy in terms of the length of time to conclude and it would also very expensive. Paul Scully insisted that the Independent Chair appointed to lead the review would ensure a timely conclusion and would “get to the bottom” of this matter. Whilst we understand the Minister’s reasoning in part, our strong view is that the only way we can ensure those responsible for these gross miscarriages of justice are brought to account is to conduct an Independent Judge-led inquiry and we will continue to push for this.

EDM 593: Judge-led public inquiry into the Horizon scandal

The following EDM was tabled on 10th June, sponsored by Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham:

“That this House recognises the life-changing injustices experienced by subpostmasters throughout the Horizon scandal; notes with the deepest sadness that subpostmasters have served custodial sentences and suffered bankruptcy for offences they did not commit; recognises the role of the Government in prolonging this crisis through not fulfilling their role of shareholder representation on the board of Post Office Limited; expresses concern at the scope and formation of the inquiry currently outlined by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; and strongly urges the Government to institute a judge-led public inquiry into this matter at the earliest opportunity.”

We expect this EDM to gain significant support as the Horizon scandal is becoming more high profile due to the Panorama and Radio 4 programmes, the recent press articles and yesterday’s urgent question session in the House of Commons. However, we would urge Branches to write to their MPs at the earliest opportunity to encourage them to sign EDM 593. A model letter template for this purpose is attached for Branches to use.

Darren Jones MP, Chair of the BEIS Select Committee – Response to “Review”

Darren Jones, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee published a statement in response to the government’s announcement which contained the following salient points:

“The Minister’s announcement of the Independent Review into the Post Office Horizon scandal is welcome. However, without a judge-led inquiry it is not clear this review will have the necessary powers to demand evidence and require witnesses to give evidence.

“To get to the bottom of this scandal, the Government should look at ensuring this review is put on a statutory basis with subpoena powers to summon witnesses and compel them to give evidence under oath.

“The independent Review should look at the respective roles of Post Office Ltd Directors, past and present, and Fujitsu, but also Ministers and officials and their role in holding Post Office Ltd to account. It’s important that those responsible are held accountable and that the Post Office and the Government learn the lessons from this scandal and prevent this mistreatment of dedicated sub- postmasters and postal staff from ever arising again.”

Post Office – Statement in Response to “Review”

The Post Office issued a statement (see link below) following yesterday’s announcement from the Minister which confirmed “The Post Office welcomes the review announced by the Government and we will of course fully and positively engage”. A Post Office spokesperson also stated “We are also leaving no stone unturned for those postmasters with past criminal convictions that may be affected”.

http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/secure-corporate/media-centre/post-office-media- centre/#/news/post-office-statement-on-government-announcement-of-independent- review-404344

House of Lords – Statement from Lord Callanan

Today there will also be a statement in the House of Lords entitled “Support for sub- postmasters wrongly convicted in the Post Office Horizon scandal” by Lord Callanan.

Press and Media Stories

The Horizon scandal has gained significant press and media interest in the last couple of weeks particularly given the new exposure due to the Panorama and Radio 4 programmes. The Daily Mail has been following the story for some time and has today published an article reporting on the urgent questions session in the HoC yesterday using the headline “Put Post Chiefs in Dock for this gross injustice” and using a picture of former CEO Paula Vennells.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8408057/Put-Post-chiefs-dock-gross- injustice-MPs-call-prosecutions-scandal.html

In addition, Computer Weekly has today published an article entitled “Anger as government launches ‘pathetic’ and ‘pointless’ review of Horizon scandal”. The article contains a quote from Lord Arbuthnot who has raised this matter on behalf of Postmasters for many years and featured in the Panorama programme. Lord Arbuthnot said the government review “is a pathetic response to a national outrage”. Furthermore – “The Prime Minister promised to get to the bottom of the Horizon scandal. This anaemic review will fail to do that, because it fails to ask the important questions. The purpose of an independent inquiry should be to establish the truth, rather than to protect the government from any suggestion of blame.”

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252484483/Anger-as-government-launches- pathetic-and-pointless-review-of-Horizon-scandal?

Conclusion

Whilst we welcome the progress made thus far with the announcement of the Review into this national scandal, we will though continue to put pressure on the government by all means possible to instigate an independent Judge-led public inquiry.

Branches are encouraged to bring this LTB to the attention of all members and to lobby politicians to support EDM 593.

Further developments will be reported.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Furey 
Assistant SecretaryLTB 311/20 – Post Office – Horizon Scandal – Independent Review and EDM 593

Attachment 1 to LTB 311/20 – Model Letter

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) – CWU MEETINGS/EVENTS – UPDATE

Branches will recall the contents of LTB 128/20 issued on the 17^th March 2020 outlining our position on the above.

Months on from that LTB we have revisited its contents in light, particularly, of the announcements made by Government regarding what some call the easing of lockdown.

We are not debating here the merits or otherwise of the Governments approach it is simply that the Government have made some changes to their initial advice and we have to take a view around how this may or may not impact our initial announcement.

In considering this issue we also sought the views of both the Industrial Departments and in particular whether the major employers have made substantial changes to their previous positions, particularly in the area of travel.

What has to guide our approach on this issue is the view that what matters most is still the health and wellbeing of our members and representatives. By this we mean we should not be instructing, asking or suggesting that our representatives take any unnecessary risks.

In making that point we are then led to the conclusion that the advice contained in LTB 128/20 still applies, as follows this means the cancellation of:

• NEC and Industrial Executive meetings and associated subcommittee and industrial business meetings.
• All CWU schools/training and CWU organised events.
• Branch Annual General meetings/Membership meetings.
• All Regional meetings.

It also means a continuation of the following:

• Implement an avoidance of all non-essential travel policy within the CWU.

In relation to the final bullet point above, we do understand that there may be some extreme emergency situations that could require a rep to attend a meeting of some sort. Our advice would be that in such circumstances the use of public transport should be avoided and that if attendance at a meeting in an emergency situation is required, then social distancing (2 metres) must apply at all times and PPE would have to be provided and used. Again we make these points because the safety of our representatives and members is the key issue at this time.

However, it is important to remember that CWU Representatives are not CWU employees, they are employed by other companies, BT, Capita, EE, o2, POL, Royal Mail Group, Santander and so on. As a result, their employer could well have issued strong guidance or rules that they expect all employees to follow in response to this pandemic. It is not our intention to issue advice that puts our representatives in conflict with their employer on this matter, hence the advice contained herein.

Separately we are also in discussion with the trade union representatives of our employees regarding the opportunity of a return to work at 150 The Broadway for a very small number of staff. These discussions are at an early stage and further details on this will be shared once those discussions have concluded but we wish to be clear, any small scale opening of work areas at 150 The Broadway will be for employees i.e. staff of the CWU only. Our duty of care to them as their employer dictates that visitors to the building be they either CWU Representatives, members or from external companies is not being considered as part of these discussions.

Any comments or questions on the above should be addressed to Tony Kearns at sdgs@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,Dave Ward

General SecretaryTony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 310/20

£200 COVID-19 Recognition Payment

I write following the publication of LTB 290/20, in which it was advised that further representation was being made with the business regarding the criteria for calculating payment for those part time members who worked in excess of their conditioned hours during the 8 week reference period (Monday 16^th March – Sunday 10^th May). In addition further clarification was sought regarding those members required to self-isolate for a 14 day period.  A response has now been received and is reproduced below for ease of reference.

Q:        I would respectfully request that the company reconsider the qualification criteria for payment for our part time colleagues and exceptionally apply the terms of the agreed criteria we have in place?

A:         The purpose of making the one-time discretionary Covid-19 payment was to make a meaningful acknowledgement to as many colleagues as possible who worked through this challenging period.

As you acknowledge, this payment was not planned.  In order to make the payment in the timeframe eligibility criteria needed to be used.  We have used a structure that is simple to understand, given the short timeline before payment.

Just to reiterate what I said in my previous letter, there are some similarities in terms of eligibility and calculation with the Christmas Supplement, that is paid to just OPGs, albeit not directly the same.  This is a one-off discretionary non-contractual payment.  This payment is based on appropriate eligibility criteria linked to colleagues contracted duty hours.

This does not change the agreements reached as part of the Guiding Principles Agreement (which you refer to as Four Pillars Agreement).

Q:        If someone has been forced to isolate for a two week period only, do they still get a pro rata payment?

A:         In short, they will be eligible for the payment and the amount will depend on what type of leave they used for the isolation period.  The Christmas Supplement was used to help inform the eligibiity approach for this one-off discretionary payment.  Therefore, eligibility is based on the type of leave taken in that two-week period.  For example, for each full week an individual receives no pay during the period (e.g unpaid Special Leave etc) the individual will lose one-eighth of the discretionary payment).

In summary, only those colleagues that agreed to vary their conditioned hours of employment for the reference period up to or pro rata to 38 hours will be entitled to receive the £200 payment.

Colleagues who were self-isolating on no pay will be abated 1/8^th for each week they were not at work.  Colleagues who were self-isolating on full sick pay will receive the full £200.

I am aware that some individuals will be disappointed at this response, however as previously pointed out, this is a non-contractual/one-off discretionary payment to acknowledge the contribution made by those CWU members who were able to support the operation throughout the above period.

The union has as far as reasonably possible endeavoured to ensure that the payment criteria be extended to cover as many members as possible. Against that backdrop it is time to put a line under this particular issue and concentrate our efforts on dealing with the real challenges that the union and its members will need to address in a postal market that has dramatically changed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)          

LTB 309/20 – £200 COVID-19 RECOGNITION PAYMENT

Equality, Education & Development Department – New Facebook Page

The Equality, Education & Development department are currently in the process of fully merging our social media platforms with the assistance of our Communications, Engagement & Media Department. 

We are delighted to announce that today we are launching our “new look” Departmental Facebook page. 

The page is accessible with or without a Facebook account and can be viewed via this link: www.facebook.com/CWUEqualityAndEducation 

The page will be used to share videos, articles and reports on the work, projects and events that the Department is undertaking and advancing on. 

We have a programme of activities planned to support the launch this week including: 

– A live session with the communications team at midday on Thursday 11th June. 

– A live Pride event at 6pm on Thursday 11th June. 

Other pages and platforms will gradually be closed down to ensure a consistent approach and to avoid duplication. 

Branches, representatives and members are encouraged to like the page and share it as widely as possible.

Yours sincerely, 

Kate Hudson 
Head of Equality, Education & Development 

LTB 307/20 – Equality, Education & Development Department – New Facebook Page

Facebook – Live Video AutoCaptioning

Dear colleagues,

As we have previously reported, we have been working hard and investing significant resources into making our communications as accessible as possible.

Today, we launched new streaming software, which we will use for major live video communications to members. We have received confirmation this software supports Facebook AutoCaptions which means viewers can turn on subtitles for live broadcasts.

We are delighted with this development and hope it gives branches further evidence of the efforts we are going to in order to reach every single member.

We have produced this short video to show you how to turn on the auto captioning service: https://vimeo.com/427350909

Kind regards,

Chris Webb
Head of Communications, Engagement and Media

LTB 304/20

Logistics Covid-19 Response – Occupational Driver Updates

Attached for information are the following Covid-19 Driver Updates that have been received from the business, further to revised guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT):

Annex A – DfT This Week in Logistics Briefing
Annex B – Logistics Comms Driver CPC
Annex C – Logistics Comms Tachograph Renewal 
Annex D – Logistics Comms Driver Photocards

Branches and representatives are requested to ensure that members are made aware of the attached information as soon as possible.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: dwyatt@cwu.org quoting reference 014.14

Yours sincerely,

Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary

LTB 303/20
Annex A – DFT This Week in Logistics Briefing
Annex B – Logistics Driver CPC validity extended
Annex C – Logistics Tachograph card renewal
Annex D – Logistics Drivers granted seven-month photocard licence extension

Covid-19 CWU Survey and impacts on people with protective characteristics

The Equality, Education and Development department have become increasing aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected some sections of the population more than others, and that there are growing concerns that minority groups are being disproportionately affected. 

To raise awareness of some of the issues affecting people with protected characteristics the department has produced the attached report setting out some of the key points emerging from recent research and analysis. The report reviews the evidence that black and minority ethnic communities are at greater risk of catching and dying from the virus than their white counterparts. It also considers the impacts coronavirus is having on other minorities such as women, people with disabilities and LGBT+ groups. Exploring the government’s reactions, the report highlights what the trade union movement has been calling for in response. 

Whilst it is important that members and representatives are made aware of these issues and responses, it is vitally important that we conduct our own CWU research to help inform our CWU lobbying and campaigning work. We are particularly interested to hear about the impact of Covid-19 on our members, therefore the department has produced a short questionnaire for members and representatives to participate in. The survey will take less than 3 minutes to complete. A link for the survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DMTMW6F 

The closing date for the survey is 30th June 2020. Please share your experiences of COVID-19 and fill in the survey. 

Any queries on this LTB should be directed to equality&education@cwu.org

Yours sincerely,

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development 

LTB 302/20 – Covid-19 CWU Survey and impacts on people with protective characteristics

LTB 302/20 Attachment – Covid 19 – impacts on people with protective charateristics

COVID-19 – RETIRED MEMBERS

As you will no doubt be aware elder people are amongst those considered to be particularly susceptible to coronavirus.

We recently held an online meeting with members of the Retired Members Committee and a discussion took place around checking in on our retired members.

A number of Branches have already written to their retired members, making contact with them and offering assistance.

Attached to this LTB is a draft letter that we would like Branches to send to their retired members where possible as part of efforts to keep an eye on those considered more vulnerable during this difficult time. We appreciate that a number of Branches will have instigated their own approach when it comes to keeping in touch and the Retired Members Committee are extremely grateful to those who have done this.

Any further assistance that can be given, by way of sending a local version of the attached letter would be greatly appreciated.

In the meantime, the Retired Members Committee passes on its best wishes to all Branches and would like to thank you in advance for any assistance you can give on this matters.

Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to the Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237, or email address sdgs@cwu.org.

 

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

LTB 301/20

Suggested Draft Template Letter for Branch Retired Members

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Celebrating Windrush Day Windrush Webinar – Monday 22nd June 2020, 6-7pm

Further to LTB 261/20, we attach a flyer for the above event. We would be grateful if you could share this widely on social media and with your members. The full details for the webinar are now confirmed and these are as follows: 

The event will be chaired by Eastern Region’s BAME Lead, Janice Richardson. Guest speakers include: 

Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo – Chair of the Windrush Movement UK Amrit Wilson – Writer & Activist Ian Taylor – NEC & North West Divisional Rep Tony Kearns – Senior Deputy General Secretary Ali Moosa – NEC BAME Lead 

A special solo vocalist performance has also been confirmed to round off the evening. 

The event does not require registration and will be available to view live on the CWU’s Facebook page. 

The CWU is committed to highlighting Windrush issues as part of our wider strategy fighting structural racism and tackling the hostile environment that sees many people from the BAME communities suffer inequality and injustice. 

Any queries on this LTB should be directed to equality&education@cwu.org 

Yours sincerely, 

Kate Hudson
Head of Equality, Education & Development

LTB 300/20 – CWU Windrush Day Webinar Monday 22 June 2020 6-7 pm

Attachment 1

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