Former Post Office Executive Warned of IT System Risk Four Years Before Prosecutions Stopped
A former senior executive at the Post Office was informed by auditors of a potential risk with the Horizon IT system four years before prosecutions against sub-postmasters ceased.
Ernst and Young, now known as EY, alerted Alice Perkins, the company’s chair in 2011, that the accountancy software posed a “real risk” and questioned its accuracy in capturing data. Despite these concerns, the system was used to prosecute over 700 individuals for theft and false accounting, resulting in financial losses for many sub-postmasters across the UK. Some faced significant debt, lost their homes, and were forced to leave their communities as they struggled to repay the sums the Post Office claimed they owed.
Ms. Perkins is currently testifying in front of the independent statutory inquiry established to investigate the introduction and failure of Horizon. Documents presented during the inquiry revealed that in the early days of Ms. Perkins’ tenure as chair, EY informed her that Horizon maker Fujitsu had taken back control of quality assurance as the Post Office drove a hard bargain on pricing.
Complaints about the system’s problems were raised four years prior to the decision to stop prosecutions. Notes from the meeting with EY stated that sub-postmasters suspected of theft had raised concerns about potential issues with Horizon. However, Ms. Perkins did not raise these concerns internally, nor did she mention the meeting when questions were continually raised about Horizon’s functionality in the following years.
In her witness statement, Ms. Perkins did not mention any action taken in response to the auditor’s information. However, she denied consistently accepting reassurance from individuals at the Post Office. It would not be until 2015, four years after the decision to stop prosecutions, that the Post Office issued an apology to sub-postmaster victims in 2019.
During the inquiry, Ms. Perkins was asked by counsel Jason Beer KC (King’s Counsel) how she could believe that Horizon was not at fault. She responded by stating that there were other pressing issues at the time, including the separation from Royal Mail and the Post Office’s future strategy. She admitted that she was not actively considering all of these factors simultaneously and now regrets not doing so.
The evidence began on Wednesday morning with an apology from Ms. Perkins. She expressed her understanding of the impact on those affected and acknowledged the prolonged suffering they experienced. “Despite my best efforts to uncover the truth during my four years at the Post Office, I was unable to do so. I am deeply sorry for the pain and hardship endured by those affected,” she stated.
