Post Office minister 'horrified' at more IT faults

An accounting system used by Post Office sub-postmasters before the controversial Horizon software was introduced is likely to have also been faulty, an investigation has found.

A report said "there was a reasonable likelihood" that the IT system, called Capture, could have created cash shortfalls in accounts.

Capture was used in branches from 1992 to 1999, prior to the Horizon software, which has been at the centre of the Post Office scandal.

Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said he was "horrified" to learn about the issues with the Capture system.

Thomas said he had met with some sub-postmasters who used the Capture system and thanked them for "coming forward to talk about the impact it had on their lives and livelihoods".

Neil Hudgell, from Hudgell Solicitors, who represents 70 sub-postmasters who used Capture, said: "It should never have needed such a long, hard battle to reach this stage, and there now must not be a long, hard battle ahead for exoneration and compensation."

The Post Office said it was "sincerely sorry" and remained "determined that wrongs must be put right as far as that can be possible".

'Acknowledgement of bugs'

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after faults with Horizon made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.

The Horizon IT system has been at the heart of what's been called the UK's most widespread miscarriage of justice.

But Monday's report from financial and risk advisory company Kroll has revealed fresh concerns over its predecessor Capture, which was developed in-house by the Post Office's information technology team.

"We consider that, based on available evidence, there was a reasonable likelihood that Capture could have created shortfalls for sub-postmasters," the report said.

Investigators said despite "various control functions being in place" at the Post Office, there was an "acknowledgement both in internal and external communications during the 1990s that Capture had bugs and errors that varied in severity".

"The burden placed upon sub-postmasters to implement fixes, which varied in complexity, together with a reliance on communications from Post Office Limited to identify these bugs and fixes, meant there was a high capacity for errors to go unnoticed," the report said.

Kroll did not comment on whether any convictions arising from sub-postmasters using Capture could be considered unsafe.

The company conducted 21 interviews with former sub-postmasters and/or their families as part of its investigation.

In a small number of cases, it was unclear if the sub-postmasters had used Capture software, Kroll said.

Out of the 21 sub-postmasters, Kroll said 12 had been suspended by the Post Office, though two occurred after 1999 when Horizon had replaced Capture.

"Of these 12, eight were prosecuted, two resigned, and two were terminated from their employment," Kroll said.

"A further seven sub-postmasters were never suspended, but advised Kroll that they ended up selling their branch, in part or whole, due to losses they sustained during Capture use."

'Fast action needed'

Kroll did not provide an estimate as to how many sub-postmasters could have been impacted in total.

But Mr Hudgell said the report's findings were "hugely significant" and mirrored the "devastation" caused by prosecutions linked to Horizon.

"We know the Post Office was made aware of issues and software faults, yet when sub-postmasters experienced unexplained losses, they were blamed, made to balance the books, suspended and prosecuted.

"There needs to be fast action on these failings, faster than we have seen before."

Kroll said that the rollout of Capture did not appear to be a "strategic project" of the Post Office in the 1990s. It estimated that a maximum of only 13.5% of all branches may have been using it as there were at least two other systems used during the period.

Investigators said Capture was "in essence a back-office processing software that automated certain calculations", and could be described as being similar to an Excel spreadsheet.

The government said it would examine the report and "consider what action should be taken" before making an announcement in December.

Kroll was asked in May to conduct an investigation into Capture to see if there was a reasonable likelihood the software could have incorrectly created shortfalls for sub-postmasters, following concerns that, like Horizon, there were known bugs and errors in the system.