Recommendation 27

HM Government Not Addressed

The Post Office is committed to ensuring that all applicants to the Historical Shortfall Scheme are provided with adequate support throughout the application process, which is, of course, a sentiment shared by Government. An independent well-being helpline was established by the Post Office from the beginning of the Scheme to provide counselling for anyone contacting the Post Office. This exists alongside the additional training and support which has been given to the Post Office’s Customer Support Centre and Branch Support Centre agents when dealing with Historical Shortfall Scheme applicants, including how best to deal with their queries. Further support has been established for those who have submitted applications. The Post Office Historical Matters Remediation Team assists with queries received and can also provide updates on progress of individual applications. This team can also advise on claims which require prioritisation due to additional circumstances communicated to them from applicants. From the beginning of the Scheme’s development, the Post Office recognised that there would be some applicants who would require prioritisation given their circumstances. Further information on the prioritisation process can be found in the response to Recommendation 9. A Post Office representative with in-depth knowledge of running a Post Office branch is now involved in the Dispute Resolution Procedure to help resolve any issues raised by postmasters via their participation in both the Good Faith Meetings as well as the escalation meetings where they not only provide support but also guidance based on real experience. The Post Office has set out their terms for providing legal support on their website:18 “Postmasters who would like to take independent legal advice to enable them to consider the terms of the offers made to them will have a period of four weeks to do so. Post Office will contribute a sum of £1,200 inclusive of VAT towards the cost of such independent advice save that, in cases where Post Office offers to pay the applicant’s claim in full (or largely in full), Post Office will contribute a sum of £400 inclusive of VAT towards such independent advice.” This commitment is set out in the Terms of Reference and within the text sent out with settlement offers. The Government supported this decision when proposed by the Post Office. The number of postmasters who have been offered support through the Scheme so far are outlined below. The following figures are accurate as of 18 March 2022: i) Pre-Offer Support – this has so far been limited to 3 requests (authority to act costs, provision of medical records) for a total of £326. ii) Post-Offer Legal Support – a small number of claimants have submitted invoices for the reimbursement of these legal fees: 9 claims totalling £6.5k. The take up of legal support so far has been low because very few claims have been escalated to a Dispute Resolution Procedure. As the more complex cases proceed, it is expected that the take up will increase. Details on the available legal support are included in the offer letter to claimants. iii) Well-being Support – up to the end of Q4 2021, the third-party well-being support service had been used for 16 calls/sessions of well-being support and counselling. The Government and the Post Office keep the matter of support provided to postmasters under review. As has been explained previously in this response, in Autumn 2020 the Government committed to funding the Historical Shortfall Scheme, and therefore subsequently Government took a significant role in governance of the Scheme. Through its role as Shareholder, the Government holds regular meetings with the Post Office, including monthly updates specifically on the Historical Shortfall Scheme. During these meetings, the Post Office provides updates on progress and the Government is given an opportunity to challenge, both on specific operational issues (e.g. case assessment progress) and strategic issues (e.g. support to postmasters). In these meetings, officials have, for example, pressed the Post Office to consider its representation at the dispute resolution meetings, the structure of dispute resolution meetings and the journey postmasters take from one stage to the next in providing informal opportunities to resolve issues. Alongside challenge from Parliamentarians, this has resulted in meaningful changes to the process, which should improve the postmaster experience.