December 2023 SubPostmaster magazine

News Roundup
The NFSP held its National Meeting on Tuesday 24 October when the
Horizon Inquiry, NBit, the Restrictions Policy and several other topics
were discussed. Here is an overview of the key points.
HORIZON INQUIRY
The NFSP continues to be heavily
involved with the Inquiry and will
support it any way we can but due
to the confidential nature there is a
limit on what can be said.
Phase 4 of the Inquiry began on
Wednesday 19 September and will
continue until late December,
before concluding in January 2024.
Phase 5 will not begin until early
2024, with Phases 6 and 7
beginning later in 2024, before Sir
Wyn Williams’s report is finalised
and published.
The Inquiry takes up a significant
amount of the NFSP’s time and we
must fund legal costs ourselves,
unlike Post Office Ltd (PO), which
has received £150 million from
government to help meet costs
associated with the Inquiry. This will
result in us posting losses, as we are
not prepared to cut back on
supporting colleagues today.
NBIT
We are very concerned about the
development of NBIT, which is a
replacement for Horizon.
There is an acknowledgement
about significant delays in the
programme and the first
postmaster trials will not take place
until next year.
There are also concerns over
funding from government that is
required to develop NBIT to fully
rollout. On this basis, the NFSP is
ensuring that government is fully
aware of any issues there may be
around the development of NBIT.
The NFSP wishes to reassure
colleagues that we will do what we
can to ensure the transfer from
Horizon to NBIT is as smooth as
possible.
The NFSP has raised a number of
questions about NBIT and will
update you when we get answers.
RESTRICTIONS POLICY
The Cabinet Office, Performance
and Innovation Unit published a
report in 2000 about the future of
the network.
It stated PO must continue to keep
its policy (Restrictions Policy) under
review to ensure restrictions are not
tighter than absolutely necessary .
This has not been done for a
considerable time, therefore the
NFSP are ensuring that a review on
the Restrictions Policy is taking
place in light of the PIU report of
2000.
There are benefits and detriments
to the Restrictions Policy. The
NFSP’s position is it needs to be
renegotiated to ensure greater
freedom and fairness for
postmasters and to reduce the level
of control that PO has on a
postmaster’s ability to trade .
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
The NFSP are looking very closely at
this because we feel the
governance of the Post Office has to
change.
We want to ensure due diligence
takes place before key decisions are
made; policies and strategies are
implemented as intended; key risks
are identified, monitored, and
mitigated; and business processes
and systems are working well.
We need to improve transparency
in decisions made between the
government and PO that affect the
network and therefore the security
of your investment .
Mutualisation is the goal but how it
would be implemented is difficult
because government and PO would
have to agree. Agreement would
also be required from postmasters
and other stakeholders. This type of
governance structure is
commonplace within local
government or within the NHS, so it
is not something new or
unprecedented .
NET UPDATE
There is a proposal currently being
discussed by PO whereby
postmasters could earn extra
income by renting out spare office
space or an unused conversation
room for banks to speak to
customers. Postmasters would
register on Branch Hub, input
contact details and the bank would
liaise directly with the branch. Fees
for this are still being discussed.
We have stressed how important it
is that PO ensures Horizon remains
a strong focus and there will be
continued ongoing improvements
to keep it fit for purpose.
PO has agreed all online travel
insurance renewals originally linked
to an office sale, will be paid to
postmasters at the current rate.
Project Copperstop (network
routers and phone lines): Every
postmaster will get a free desk
phone for the branch worth £52.52
and the portable phone will be
£125.68 (£178.20 minus the £52.52).
Offices which have already bought
a phone will be recompensed
£52.52 in their remuneration.
Etop-up transactions can now be
removed from the basket right up
to settlement, so if the payment
method fails the transaction can be
aborted.
Buy-in-branch first
phase launched
The first phase of Post Office
Ltd’s (PO’s) buy-in-branch sales
with DPD and Evri was launched
in November.
For the first time in PO’s
360-year history, in-branch sales
with multiple carriers was
launched, which means Royal
Mail is no longer the only carrier
available at branches.
The rollout began at all
branches which provides PUDO
services for DPD and Evri.
PO’s aim is to have buy-inbranch
services in all 4,000 DPD
branches and 2,000 Evri
branches in time for the peak
Christmas period, but this will be
dependent on the success of the
first phase pilot.
8 The SubPostmaster December 2023