MP calls for second Post Office IT flaw clarity

MP Kevan Jones is calling for clarity from the Post Office

An MP is calling on the Post Office to reveal how many sub-postmasters who were terminated because of "malpractice" may actually have been victims of a second allegedly flawed IT system.

The Capture accounting software was introduced before the Horizon system to branches around the country in the 1990s.

Some sub-postmasters in the North East claim they were wrongly convicted after errors in the software generated shortfalls in their accounts, North Durham MP Kevan Jones said.

The Post Office said they took the issue seriously and were investigating Capture.

In July 1999, the Post Office wrote to sub-postmasters about its concerns with malpractice in the North East.

The letter said about 100 sub-postmasters in the region had had their contracts terminated or quit to avoid termination since 1993.

"Almost all were because of malpractices discovered as a result of audits," the letter said.

It then went on to detail several types of accounting malpractices it had discovered in the region, though reiterated that the "vast majority" of the more than 2,600 sub-postmasters in the North East were "honest and efficient".

Mr Jones said: "People went to prison, people lost their livelihoods and in some cases people had to move abroad – I’ve got one case, for example, from Australia."

He has called on the Post Office to reveal how many of the sub-postmasters described in the letter had been using the Capture accounting system at the time.

"[Capture] had a devastating impact, just like Horizon," Mr Jones said.

Horizon, the heavily criticised Fujitsu accounting software, was introduced by the Post Office in 1999, with pilots taking place from 1996.

Mr Jones is calling for sub-postmasters who feel they were wrongly accused of malpractice in the 1990s to reach out.

The Department for Business and Trade said it had agreed to instigate an independent review of Capture.

The Post Office said it hopes to provide "further information with past users of Capture as soon as we’re able to".