The Publish Workplace scandal campaigner, who might also be a sufferer of Seize, accused officers of not studying classes from earlier compensation failures.
Seize was a bit of defective laptop software program utilized in about 2,500 branches between 1992 and 1999 earlier than the notorious Horizon scandal.
Many sub-postmasters made up doubtlessly false accounting shortfalls from their very own pocket, with dozens, no less than, convicted of stealing.
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2:56
Sir Alan Bates reaches settlement with govt
Sir Alan welcomed the launch of the primary ever Seize Redress Scheme final week “in general”.
Nevertheless, he added: “It does seem to have gone off half-baked with almost none of the lessons that should have been learnt from the failures of the other Postmaster Schemes having been applied when compiling it.”
Sir Alan Bates, who has settled his redress declare with the federal government in reference to Horizon, additionally confirmed he might have been a sufferer of Seize.
He stated: “I have documentation which shows that a PC running Capture was part of the inventory when we purchased our sub-post office and I know it was used until it was replaced by the infamous Horizon system toward the end of 2000.”
Regardless of this, Sir Alan stated that – with the knowledge he has in regards to the scheme and making a declare – “it does seem I may not be able submit one”.
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4:32
Will Publish Workplace victims be cleared?
Beneath the present guidelines, it seems claimants should submit a completely itemised declare earlier than the Division for Enterprise and Commerce (DBT) will resolve in the event that they qualify – a course of Sir Alan described as “mad”.
“We could spend a year compiling a claim only for the DBT to say we weren’t eligible in the first place.”
He known as for a two-stage course of: first to verify eligibility, then to permit victims to construct their case with authorized help – a mannequin he says would save time, cash and keep away from pointless authorized prices.
The revelation that Sir Alan might have been a Seize sufferer – and did not realise till afterward – raises contemporary considerations about what number of others stay unaware.
“All eligible applicants will receive an interim payment of £10,000. In exceptional circumstances, the independent panel can award above £300,000, which is not a cap.
“We’ve got been involved with Sir Alan’s authorized consultant and stand prepared to offer additional info to assist all claimants.”
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3:01
‘This ready is simply insufferable’
Notes from a gathering of “the Capture steering group” held in February – months earlier than the system was launched to branches – described recordsdata as being “corrupted”.
It highlighted that: “If the power was switched off when a file was open it would be corrupted. In this situation data should be checked and reinput.”
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2:48
‘All we wish is her identify cleared’
One other fault talked about within the assembly notes was if “part of the system was closed early, to produce client summaries any additional transactions might not be captured for that day”.
“If a high error rate was detected the software would need to be reworked.”
A doc known as “Capture Troubleshooting Guide” from April 1993 – over a 12 months after the steering group famous faults – once more described “corrupt data” equivalent to incorrect transaction values.
It concluded that the “cause” of this was “switching off the computer or a power cut (even if only for a few seconds) whilst in the Capture programme”.
It additionally put ahead directions to treatment the fault.
Rupert Lloyd-Thomas, campaigner for Seize victims, stated: “The Post Office knew … in 1992, long before the launch, that Capture could be zapped by a power cut.
“They did nothing about it.”
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Steve Marston
Steve Marston, who was convicted of stealing from his Publish Workplace department in 1998 after utilizing Seize, stated the knowledge “didn’t come as any surprise”.
“They’ve known since the very beginning it should never have been released,” he added.
A Publish Workplace spokesperson stated: “We have been very concerned about the reported problems relating to the use of the Capture software and are sincerely sorry for past failings that have caused suffering to postmasters.
“In September 2024, Kroll printed an unbiased report which examined the Seize software program that was utilized in some Publish Workplace branches within the Nineties and we absolutely co-operated with Kroll all through their investigation.
“We are determined that past wrongs are put right and are continuing to support the government’s work in this area.
“Publish Workplace has very restricted data regarding this method and we encourage anybody who has Seize associated materials to share it with Publish Workplace and the Legal Instances Evaluation Fee.”
