Government warned of 'second scandal' involving Post Office
Labour MP Kevan Jones has warned of another potential scandal involving the Post Office over issues with a second IT system.
He is urging Post Office chief Nick Read to appear before MPs for questioning after concerns over faults in the Capture software used for back office accounting. Number 10 has called for an investigation and "robust action" if any problems are found with this system.
These worries follow the previous scandal with the faulty Horizon system, as reported by the i newspaper. In his letter to Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake, Mr Jones wrote: "We know the Capture software was faulty, resulting in corrupted data.
"We also know that the Post Office knew about these faults at the time, as it openly communicated with sub-postmasters about them. Several former sub-postmasters have now come forward including some who have spoken openly to the media to put their stories on the record to say that despite these faults being known, they were accused of being responsible for inaccurate shortfalls."
"Some of these individuals put tens of thousands of pounds of their own money aside to make their accounts balance; many had their contracts with the Post Office terminated, losing their livelihood and their good standing in their community, and some were prosecuted. I am shocked that we are only just beginning to scrape the surface on what seems to be a second scandal involving the persecution and prosecution of sub-postmasters on the basis of evidence from a computer system that was known to be faulty."
Passport warning as prices to increase from today if you want to get a new one
He suggested that the Business and Trade Committee should invite Mr Read to answer questions about "this potential further miscarriage of justice". An ITV drama has highlighted the long-running Horizon scandal, with the Government recently promising legislation to clear subpostmasters' names amid public outrage over the wrongful conviction of hundreds of Post Office branch managers.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We share the concerns. I think we do want this to be investigated. If there are any issues with any other systems we expect robust action to take place.
"In the first instance the Post Office are looking into these claims because we are aware of a small number of complaints about that system. The Department for Business and Trade is actively speaking to the Post Office about their work and scrutinising it and we will consider our approach following that."
A Post Office insider shared: "In 2020, we wrote to all current and former postmasters where we had contact details about the launch of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. More than 25,000 letters were sent and we also advertised the scheme in national newspapers."
"We take very seriously any concerns raised about cases from before the Horizon system was first rolled out in 1999. We are investigating, including specific cases brought to our attention and will transparently publish our findings."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
