Post staff win seat on board after IT scandal
THE Post Office will put a postmaster on its board of directors in the aftermath of the damaging IT scandal.
Hundreds of staff were sacked, bankrupted or wrongfully convicted after bosses pursued them for money that was ‘missing’ from their accounts.
But it later emerged that shortfalls at local branches were the result of flaws in the Post Office’s IT system, Horizon.
The Government-owned firm now hopes to ‘reset the relationship’ by including a postmaster on the board as a non-executive director.
It has not yet said if the chosen individual will be one of those who was wrongly accused in the scandal. In a statement yesterday the Post Office said the move was evidence of bosses’ ‘determination to create a genuine two-way partnership’ with the 8,000 postmasters who own and manage individual branches.
The move was approved by UK Government Investments (UKGI), the agency which oversees taxpayer-owned companies. The Post Office will also consult on setting up forums for postmasters, allow
‘Repeated let-downs and betrayals’
ing them to feed more directly into business decisions affecting their branches.
Post Office chief executive Nick Read has tried to move past the Horizon IT scandal. In December, he settled with 555 postmasters for £58million and apologised in the wake of a fractious High Court battle fought by his predecessor.
A scheme was launched in May allowing 1,300 current and former staff members to apply for compensation. Separately, 960 convictions linked to the scandal are under review.
Mr Read said: ‘Having a serving postmaster on our board sends the clearest signal yet of our determination to put postmasters at the forefront of our business, and reset our relationship.’
Calum Greenhow, chief executive of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, yesterday said the decision was ‘right and proper’ and added that ‘more now than ever, we need to have that voice’.
Andy Furey, of the Communications Workers’ Union, said: ‘This was the only option after the repeated let-downs and betrayals of the last two decades.’