November 2014
JFSA update 26th November 2014
Over the past few weeks it has become significantly clearer where the Initial Case Review & Mediation Scheme is heading.
You will be aware from previous emails that it is JFSA’s view that cases being diverted through the Working Group at the insistence of Post Office and requesting Working Group approval before being sent to Mediation was not part of the Scheme. Second Sight is the independent investigations firm and it is their recommendation about a cases’ suitability for Mediation that was the agreed deciding factor at the start of the Scheme, and which should be adhered to now.
This point and other examples of the intransigence of Post Office led to JFSA raising these concerns with James Arbuthnot, the MP who is chairing the MP group in this matter. In turn he and a small number of other MPs met with Paula Vennells and her team last week to discuss the issues that had been raised. I too attended the meeting and know that the MPs were shocked at the position POL were now taking on the Scheme. To paraphrase, POL stated that the Scheme had failed to find a single thing wrong with Horizon and that POL had done everything possible to assist with the Scheme, so basically people were just trying it on. These are my words, but you get the picture, gone were the words of openness and support and of trying to find the truth, which had been conveyed to me by POL only a couple of years ago.
So we know where we stand now, and whilst the MPs asked POL to go away and discuss their position with their Board, personally I doubt if that will change anything.
Mediation Meetings
The current arrangement for the Mediation meetings excludes the Working Group from officially being notified as to what occurs at these meetings, and so far, only a small number of cases have got that far. A few of those who have attended such meetings have conveyed how disappointed they were, to the extent that one person has withdrawn from the Scheme and written to the Chairman of the Working Group to explain why. In all cases where an individual is unhappy with the procedure of the meeting, it would not only be useful to let us know, but if you have had your MP involved with your case, you should discuss what happened with them.
You should also be aware that regardless of the outcome of any mediation meeting with POL they are treating the case as mediated and as such closed, however JFSA does not accept this position. Until such time that there is a fundamental shift in the position POL is taking at these meeting, JFSA will continue to explore other remedies to the wrongs POL has inflicted on individuals as a result of the systemic failures of Post Office and their Horizon system.
Over the past few weeks it has become significantly clearer where the Initial Case Review & Mediation Scheme is heading.
You will be aware from previous emails that it is JFSA’s view that cases being diverted through the Working Group at the insistence of Post Office and requesting Working Group approval before being sent to Mediation was not part of the Scheme. Second Sight is the independent investigations firm and it is their recommendation about a cases’ suitability for Mediation that was the agreed deciding factor at the start of the Scheme, and which should be adhered to now.
This point and other examples of the intransigence of Post Office led to JFSA raising these concerns with James Arbuthnot, the MP who is chairing the MP group in this matter. In turn he and a small number of other MPs met with Paula Vennells and her team last week to discuss the issues that had been raised. I too attended the meeting and know that the MPs were shocked at the position POL were now taking on the Scheme. To paraphrase, POL stated that the Scheme had failed to find a single thing wrong with Horizon and that POL had done everything possible to assist with the Scheme, so basically people were just trying it on. These are my words, but you get the picture, gone were the words of openness and support and of trying to find the truth, which had been conveyed to me by POL only a couple of years ago.
So we know where we stand now, and whilst the MPs asked POL to go away and discuss their position with their Board, personally I doubt if that will change anything.
Mediation Meetings
The current arrangement for the Mediation meetings excludes the Working Group from officially being notified as to what occurs at these meetings, and so far, only a small number of cases have got that far. A few of those who have attended such meetings have conveyed how disappointed they were, to the extent that one person has withdrawn from the Scheme and written to the Chairman of the Working Group to explain why. In all cases where an individual is unhappy with the procedure of the meeting, it would not only be useful to let us know, but if you have had your MP involved with your case, you should discuss what happened with them.
You should also be aware that regardless of the outcome of any mediation meeting with POL they are treating the case as mediated and as such closed, however JFSA does not accept this position. Until such time that there is a fundamental shift in the position POL is taking at these meeting, JFSA will continue to explore other remedies to the wrongs POL has inflicted on individuals as a result of the systemic failures of Post Office and their Horizon system.