Before we get to the Christmas stamp issue, I thought it worth prompting our readers to make some suggestions for the 2025 programme.
You know the basics of the programme, whatever the specific subjects. There is likely to be at least one music set ....
at least one television/film set,
Christmas of course (a non-secular subject), and some blatant thematic sets with no commemorative worth.
Suggestions by email only please to ian@norphil.co.uk, only one per person unless I prompt you for clarification or expansion.
Results and comparison with the actual programme in due course. The exercise ends when the programme is announced - please don't leak it if you see the calendar in a post office, it won't be published here.
It's 18 months since the King Charles definitives were issued, but as we know Royal Mail printers produced an enormous number of 2nd and 1st class Machin definitives such that they are still being sold now, and are certainly still being provided in the SwapOut scheme.
But there is still room for discoveries and I am indebted to CB for sending this picture of a massive shift of the iridescent layer on a 1st class booklet stamp. So large is the shift that it is impossible to establish whether this is from a book of 8 MEIL or book of four, MFIL.
UPDATE: Thanks to HJF & DG I can confirm that this is a MFIL/M22L stamp with barcode date 14.03.22 based on interpretation of the barcode.
1st class Machin booklet stamp with 2mm left shift and slight downward shift of the iridescent printing.
The email reminded me that I had been given an identical stamp (on cover) by a relative. Unfortunately neither example is postmarked so we don't know where the stamps were used.
Second example of a 1st class Machin booklet stamp with 2mm left shift and slight downward shift of the iridescent printing.
If you do get stamped mail - and Christmas is coming - it's still worth looking for oddities like this. Whilst not valuable it is interesting, especially if you can include a photograph in your collection which shows the error more clearly.
I don't recall seeing anything as prominent as this on the barcoded stamps before.
We reported 2024 reprints of the Counter Sheet definitive stamps in February when the 1st and 2nd class sheets were found in Post Offices. Other sheet printings have been announced by Royal Mail, and booklets have been found locally.
The 1st class was reprinted on 170/1/2024 and the 2nd class on 18/01/24. Not previously mentioned here were reprints of the 1st class Large on 01/03/24 and the 2nd class Large on 04/03/2024. There were further reprints of the 1st class on 12/03/2024 and the 2nd class on 13/03/24.
The 2nd class booklet of 8 stamps was reported in May of this year and we have just received the 1st class M24L booklet of 8, both with source code MEIL.
2nd class King Charles III definitive booklet reprint 2024 - MEIL M24L
2nd class King Charles III definitive booklet reprint 2024 single - MEIL M24L
1st class King Charles III definitive booklet single 2024 reprint - MEIL M24L
1st class King Charles III definitive booklet single 2024 reprint showing cylinder number C1.
Country Definitives
Several collectors have reported (mainly in the new tariff post) that Royal Mail Philatelic will be charging them for new Welsh Country Definitives on 14 November. Of course I know about these but because of Royal Mail's stupid embargo system, I am not supposed to be writing about them or showing the images until the end of this month.
Well, imagine the current 2nd and 1st class Wales stamps with the head of King Charles instead of Queen Elizabeth. There, that's not difficult.
There will be no airmail rate stamp. The new pair of stamps have a value of £2.50 - unfortunately the cost to send an airmail letter will be £2.80.
The much-criticised Capture computer system was developed in-house by Post Office. The Horizon system was developed by ICL/Fujitsu. The New Branch Information Technology system was being developed in-house, and is running way over budget - and is unlikely to be available for several years, during which Post Office Ltd will have to continue to use Fujitsu to maintain Horizon.
As things stand, the Post Office contract with IT supplier Fujitsu to
support Horizon ends in March 2025, and if that’s not extended, the
consequences could be catastrophic for the branch network. Even Fujitsu
is cautious about continuing, and has said it will only do so if
convinced the Post Office has a viable replacement plan in place.
The Post Office has asked for a five-year extension, with a three-year break point. The full five years could see up to £180m of additional taxpayer money go to the IT supplier.
According to witnesses at the public inquiry into the Post
Office scandal, the two companies have yet to agree a new contract, with
less than six months to go.
Former Post Office chief transformation officer Chris Brocklesby told the inquiry
that, if everything went according to plan, the earliest the Horizon
replacement – dubbed New Branch IT (NBIT) – would begin roll-out is June
2026, with Horizon finally switched off at the end of 2028.
The “writing is on the wall” for the Post Office’s plan to build its
New Branch IT (NBIT) system in-house, as it considers dumping it in
favour of an off-the-shelf electronic point of sale (EPOS) alternative.
A source said the Post Office looks set to U-turn on its current plan to replace the controversial Horizon IT system with in-house developed software and either switch to an off-the-shelf system from a supplier or bring Horizon in-house.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Post Office is
considering a contract with EPOS platform provider Escher, the supplier
of the Riposte middleware that was previously used in early versions of
the Horizon system. There is also support within the Post Office IT
department for bringing the existing and controversial Horizon system
in-house. The source said a decision has not been made yet, but it
appears “the writing is on the wall” for the in-house NBIT software,
which is expected to be dumped.
This follows an admission by recently installed Post Office chairman Nigel Railton, during his appearance at the Post Office scandal public inquiry this week, that the company’s decision to build the new system in-house was one of two reasons the project was “set up to fail”.
Railton told the inquiry: “One was the decision ‘to get off Horizon’,
which is different to building a system for the future, and the second
was the decision to build in-house.” He said there are many “horror
stories” of people trying to build systems in-house, adding: “I think,
based on my experience, that this was always set up to fail in the first
place.”
-----
A recent internal Post Office document sent to staff by acting CEO
Neil Brocklehurst revealed that changes to the NBIT programme are being
considered. “While the strategic review is ongoing, and informed by
other discussions with the board and stakeholders, we have taken the
opportunity to review our current approach to our delivery of new
technology, to make sure it will deliver what postmasters need in the
most effective way possible,” it said.
“This means from next week we will start reassessing and
reprioritising the NBIT programme. This does not mean we will be
stopping everything. Critical investment in Horizon’s infrastructure
will continue and, importantly, we will be moving forward with the
installation of new technology into branches over the next 12 months,”
the document said.
According to the source, the NBIT team has been told to hold off
building any more features until a decision is made on whether to
continue with the current in-house project.
With everybody having sent all their cards in the third week of September (send a card slogan), slogans reverted to the default and stayed that way into October.
Thank you to RW and JH for sending early examples of the British Heart Foundation slogan in the two formats, Home Counties North 01-10-2024 and Sheffield Mail Centre 04/10/2024.
British Heart Foundation slogan from Home Counties North 01-10-2024
British Heart Foundation slogan from Sheffield Mail Centre 04/10/2024
World Menopause Awareness Day 18 October Let's talk and share experiences to make a real difference
Menopause Awareness Day slogan Edinburgh Mail Centre 14-10-2024
Other postmarks, postal markings etc.
UPDATE 23 October: SS in Canada has sent another Exeter packet stamp, and unlike the last ones this one has the postcode EX2 7XX at the foot.
Exeter Mail Centre packet stamp with postcode EX2 7XX 8 OCT 2024
Thanks to JF for providing this cover which has stamps cancelled with the wavy line handstamp instead of by a pen. This was sent to India from Bath, Somerset, so well done to the people in Bath or Bristol's Mail Centre for getting these cancelled. India is in Zone 1 for which the postage is £4.20 for 100g, so it is overpaid by 80p or more than three of these stamps. (The next weight step costs £7.05.)
Wavy line handstamp on airmail letter from Bath (or Bristol Mail Centre) 2024.
We should get a Movember slogan this month, so if you receive or come across that or any other
interesting postal markings from any period or place, please send them to the email address in
the top right of this blog. Thank you.
Remember, all postmarks appearing in October will be added to this post, so check
here before you spend time scanning and emailing.
Royal Mail's latest musical extravaganza features the 1960s rock band The Who, which really is my generation. Formed in 1964, they celebrate their 60th anniversary this year (like Porridge).
Royal Mail's write-up
Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon formed The Who in 1964. Within five years, they went from performing club shows to headlining the Woodstock festival and becoming the biggest box-office draw in the world. The group changed the way rock music was presented live and produced records that were often intelligent and challenging in content while pushing technological boundaries – both on the stage and in the studio.
The band embraced different genres of music, from proto-punk to soft rock, mock opera to rock opera, and heavy rock to orchestrated rock. They produced songs that spoke for the disaffected youth and, as The Who themselves grew older, the middle-aged. Pete Townshend, as chief songwriter, became the voice of his generation. Along their 60-year journey, The Who lost Keith Moon (in 1978) and John Entwistle (in 2002), but Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend continue to thrill audiences with some of the best rock music ever written.
They also support a host of charities, for which they have raised millions of pounds in funding over the years. There has never been another band quite like The Who. Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, and now celebrating their 60th anniversary, the group are among the most innovative and influential bands of the rock and roll era.
Set of 8 stamps celebrating the 60th anniversary of rock band The Who, issued 17 October 2024.
The set consists of 4 x 1st class stamps and 4 x £2 stamps which, as many have said, do not satisfy any particular postage rate.
The stamps - album covers.
1st Class: My Generation Released in the UK in December 1965 and reaching number five in the charts, My Generation is one of the best debut albums. in history. Mixing cover versions with original material, the record highlights The Who’s unique song writing and performing abilities, not least on its title track and lead single – a rallying call to the disaffected youth of Britain.
1st Class: Tommy The Who’s career-making double album, 1969’s Tommy was a tour de force that peaked at number two in the UK and redrew the boundaries of what could be achieved in rock music. Centred on a narrative that has since been adapted for stage and screen, it included the transatlantic hit ‘Pinball Wizard’ and continues to enthrall audiences around the world.
1st Class: Who’s Next Following Tommy was never going to be easy, but The Who managed it with Who’s Next, which topped the UK charts in 1971. Featuring songs such as ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, it proved the group could deliver anthems outside of a conceptual framework and made The Who one of the first bands capable of filling stadium venues.
1st Class: Quadrophenia Telling the story of Jimmy, a mod seeking his place in the world in the mid- 1960s, Quadrophenia continued Pete Townshend’s exploration of spiritual fulfilment. Issued in late 1973 and reaching number two on both sides of the Atlantic, the double album featured a complex narrative that proved to be difficult to perform live, even for The Who.
£2.00: Who Are You Released at the height of the punk era in Aug 78, Who Are You picked up where The Who By Numbers left off, its title track railing against the machinations of the music business. An ailing Keith Moon died three weeks after the album’s release, just as it peaked at number 6 in the UK charts.
£2.00: Face Dances The Who’s first album with new recruits Kenney Jones (drums) and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick (keyboards), Face Dances was released in March 1981 and heralded the band’s biggest UK tour for many years. Lead single ‘You Better You Bet’ took the group into the UK top ten for the first time since the mid- 1970s, helping its parent album hit number two.
£2.00: Endless Wire Having paid tribute to bassist John Entwistle on the song ‘Old Red Wine’, written and recorded for the 2004 compilation Then and Now, Townshend and Daltrey, with Pino Palladino (bass) and Zak Starkey (drums), released The Who’s 11th album, Endless Wire, in October 2006. Based on a story by Townshend, it was hailed by critics as a return to form.
£2.00: WHO In no hurry to return to the studio, The Who issued WHO 13 years after Endless Wire, in December 2019. Reaching number three in the UK, the album proved that Pete Townshend had become the ultimate cross- generational spokesman and revealed Roger Daltrey to be the epitome of a rock god, helping to steer the group’s survival through the ages.
Miniature sheet
The ms also contains a mix of 1st class and £2 stamps. To use the latter as basic letter rate stamps, 20p more is required for international surface mail outside Europe, and 50p for international airmail; or 10p for an inland large letter under 100g.
The above paragraph was written in August before the new postage rates were announced. So here's a rewrite:
The ms also contains a mix of 1st class and £2 stamps. To use the
latter as basic letter rate stamps, 60p (ie two stamps) more is required for
international surface mail outside Europe, and 80p (at least 3 stamps) for international
airmail.
Miniature sheet of 4 stamps celebrating the 60th anniversary of rock band The Who, issued 17 October 2024. 1st class: The Who in 1968; The Who at the Marquee Club in 1967; £2 The Who at Kings Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester 1973; The Who c.1965.
This 24-book is written by music photographer and writer Matt Kent. Panes 1 & 2 (the sheet stamps) are on gummed paper; Panes 3 & 4 (miniature sheet and definitives) are self-adhesive. The defnitive pane contains just two x £2 definitives, and three labels.
The Who Prestige Stamp Book Cover
The Who Prestige Stamp Book
Collectors Sheet
Unusually in recent times this is gummed as the self-adhesive format was not possible because the die-cutter was not available for the 'Album Covers' format. So the same as the sheet stamps (although the phosphor may turn out to be different: time will tell).
The Who Collectors Sheet issued 17 October 2024
Not a Retail booklet
No retail booklets have been issued since the introduction of barcoded definitives due to the change of size and difficulty accommodating the mix. Royal Mail are now pleased to be able to introduce these again produce something similar for this issue with 4 x 1st Class The Who stamps in a specially designed stamp booklet.
The book features a graphic background of The Who roundel or ‘target’ and includes the 4 x 1st Class album cover stamps of: My Generation, Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia in a folded book. Print: these self-adhesive booklets are printed in gravure (presumably by the Walsall end of Cartor Security Printers) and so make 4 different stamps.
Retail booklet of 4 x 1st class The Who stamps, printed gravure on self-adhesive paper, issued 17 October 2024.
UPDATE 11 October.
A spokesman for Royal Mail has confirmed that this product is not considered as a Retail Book and that that term was only used to describe its format and size.
"These are planned only for the Music issues at this time, by extension then they are for
the fan bases and are in response to those
fans loving the option of having mint stamps for postage within their
basket of collectibles. It’s
also a low price product for the fan collector. It isn’t a substitute
for the Retail Booklets or Retail Booklet focused
stamp collectors. It will not be distributed by Post Office Ltd nor Royal Mail Retail."
In my view even if some supermarkets resist this type of product, with a barcode and a
simple A5 point of sale card Royal Mail could have sold to people doing their grocery or
greetings card shopping. The demographic that still sends cards are exactly the people who
would have enjoyed The Who.
I know the Philatelic team at Royal Mail were disappointed that Retail or Commemorative Booklets were not accommodated when the barcoded stamps were issued as "the rationale behind them is as valid today as it was then in terms of taking stamps to a non-stamp collecting audience".
Maybe next year?
Products
Set of 8 stamps, miniature sheet, presentation pack, first day covers (2), stamp cards (13), press sheet of 8 miniature sheets, collectors sheet, prestige stamp book, limited edition prestige stamp book, retail booklet, fan sheets (2), medal covers (2), platinum stamp set, framed products.
Fans of the US television forensic crime series CSI will know that four tracks from The Who have been used as the theme tunes since the middle of series 1. The original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation used Who Are You; CSI: Miami used Won't Get Fooled Again; CSI:NY - Baba O'Riley; CSI: Cyber - I Can See For Miles; and CSI: Vegas - Who Are You.
Once again Royal Mail chose to announce new postage rates while we were away, so by now most of the headline news is well known.
Royal Mail Press Release extract 6 September 2024
From 7 October 2024, the price of First Class stamps will increase to £1.65 and the price of Second Class stamps will remain unchanged at 85p.
Royal Mail has sought to keep price increases as low as possible in the face of declining letter volumes, inflationary pressures and the costs associated with maintaining the Universal Service. The new price of First and Second Class stamps remain below European average prices of £1.73 for First Class and £1.33 for Second Class.
Letter volumes have fallen from 20 billion in 2004/5 to around 6.7 billion a year in 2023/4. As a result, the average household now receives just four letters per week, compared to 14 per week in 2004/5. The number of addresses Royal Mail must deliver to has risen by four million in the same period meaning the cost of each delivery continues to rise.
At the same time the opportunity has been taken to increase the basic airmail rate, which is unaffected by the above factors.
The new rate chart can be downloaded here. New prices in bold, unchanged rates in italics. The 1st class £3.50 rate now covers Large Letters over 100g to 750g.
1st
2nd
Letter
1.65
1.35
0.85
0.85
Large Letter – 100g
2.60
2.10
1.55
1.55
- 250g
3.50
2.90
2.10
2.10
- 500g
3.50
3.50
2.50
2.50
- 750g
3.50
3.50
2.70
2.70
Small Parcel 2kg
4.79
4.59
3.75
3.69
Medium Parcel 2kg
6.99
6.69
6.15
5.89
- 10kg
8.69
8.39
7.65
7.39
- 20kg
13.19
12.49
11.55
10.99
Special Delivery rates are also increased. The 100g rate rises by 40p from £7.95 to £8.35, the 500g rate by 40p to £9.35.
UK Tracked rates see minor increases. The basic 1st class Large Letter rate is raised by 10p to £3.60, the Small Parcel rate by 20p to £4.99. The 2nd class rates by 10p to £2.80, the Small Parcel by 6p to £3.95.
UK Signed rates rise broadly in line with the basic letter rates.
International rates. The basic letter rates are increased, but not the Large Letter and Parcel rates. The airmail rate is increased from £2.50 to £2.80, and the surface rate from £2.20 to £2.60. Premium services - International Tracked, Signed, and Tracked & Signed all see changes.
Unlike last April, when the new airmail stamp was issued after the rate increased, the new £2.80 stamp will be issued on 1 October. However, there may be problems obtaining it in Post Offices until the day of the increase (7 October).
Royal Mail's advice to dealers was "The new £2.80 rate will be live and available in Post Offices from Monday 7th October, the date that the new Tariff comes into force", so read what you will into that.
UPDATE: I confirmed in Dereham Crown Office this morning that the £2.80 was available to sell; the Horizon system has that and the presentation pack already available.
As usual the 39 x 30 mm self-adhesive stamps are printed by Cartor Security Printers in sheets of 25, and a presentation pack has been produced.
£2.80 slate-blue King Charles III definitive stamp issued for airmail letters and cards worldwide 1 October 2024
UPDATE: An interesting point has been raised in the Comments, that the new 1st class rate is higher than the 2nd class Large Letter rate of £1.55 as this is unchanged. This means that a 1st class commemorative or current definitive can be used to send a Large Letter (up to 100g) at 2nd class.
As might have been expected new slogan postmarks - absent in August - made a return in September. Several readers sent examples and if I fail to acknowledge your contribution, please accept my apologies now.
The default British Heart Foundation slogan continued for the first week - thanks to KD for this example from Bristol Mail Centre dated 06/09/2024 and the other format from Inverness dated 05-09-2024.
British Heart Foundation slogan from Inverness Mail Centre 05-09-2024
British Heart Foundation slogan from BA,BS,GL,TA (Bristol) Mail Centre 06/09/2024
The first new slogan marked Air Ambulances Week (9-15 September 2024). (Two different organisations' wesbites: Air Ambulances UK and The Air Ambulance Service which seems a bit odd.)
First used on Saturday 7 September for delivery on 9th (thanks AB for a N&W Yorkshire example). few of the impressions received have been clear, sadly, the one from Glasgow Mail Centre 11-09-2024 being the best by a country mile (thanks to JF).
AIR AMBULANCES UK
Air Ambulance Week September 9th - 15th
Air Ambulances UK slogan, Glasgow Mail Centre 11-09-2024
Air Ambulances UK slogan, North & West Yorkshire 13/09/2024
Other examples from South East Anglia on 10th (RW), Croydon (MM & KD), and a particularly poor one from Chester & N Wales (KD)
This was followed by another in aid of the Greetings Card Industry, marking Thinking of You Week which this year ran from 16th - 22nd September.
The slogan repeats theformat from previous years.
Send A Card Deliver A Smile for Thinking of You Week 16th-22nd September 2024
MM provided an example from North & West Yorkshire on (Saturday) 14/09/2024 for delivery on 16th, and KD sent the same format from Manchester dated 17/09/2024.
Thinking of You Week slogan used at North & West Yorkshire 14/09/2024
It seems unlikely that there will be any more?
Other postmarks, postal markings etc.
Our Canadian correspondent (SS) has sent a selection of postmarks including a second counter date stamp from Littlehampton's Wick News, first reported in February. That one had the B ident, and this one is the A, dated 20 SE 24.
Wick News A counter date stamp, 20 SE 24.
SS also sent an image of a cover postmarked with the HEATON MOOR STOCKPORT E counter date stamp from 30 AU 22
Heaton Moor Stockport E cds 30 AU 22
The branch has been in the same location for some years but comparison of Google streetview in 2023 with 2012 shows the changing face of the high street as companies reinvent their appearance with not only the Post Office, but also The Plough and the Co-op supermarket having changed.
Heaton Moor Post Office 2015 (top) and 2023 (Google Streetview)
We also have two packet stamps, Sheffield Mail Centre of 09 SEP 2021 from SS, and Enquiry Office Norwich 27 SEP 2024 from JH who asks whether it is normal to have postmarks at the EO.
At one stage one of Norwich's two EOs housed a Post and Go machine which enabled stamps to be sold without large stocks of sheets being held behind the counter and sold for cash. The idea was also that Customs and other penalty charges could be made through the machines but I don't think this ever worked in practice.) The EO also accepted mail - predominently from businesses which also collected their mail from PO Boxes - and cancelled the stamps.
Sheffield Mail Centre S9 2XX packet stamp 09 SEP 2021
Our holiday in Ireland concentrated on enjoying the views, eating out, and relaxing. Nonetheless I felt compelled to take some photos related to the postal system. Here are a few postboxes. It took a while to get used to seeing them: Irish streets are so colourful that the green boxes do not stand out quite as much as our red ones do. And I don't think I saw any pillar boxes, although many exist in the cities, and there is a Penfold in Skibereen which I missed through not knowing about it until we had left the area.
The smart but tinny wall boxes stand out quite well, this one from Union Hall, a small fishing village in Co. Cork.
An Post wall mounted box in Union Hall, Co Cork September 2024
This one in Goleen, on the Mizen Head peninsula in Co. Cork was not as well cared for.
An Post wall mounted box at Goleen, Co Cork, September 2024.
A good - and unexpected - find, was this wall-encased box surrounded by ivy in Co. Donegal. It's on the border of the townlands of Mullanmore and Buncroobog, east of Glenties. Much repainted it is difficult to see the shape of the harp, but the SE letters are clear, dating this to the 1922-24 period. These are said to be rare but a few are pictured on the web which also have the E R cypher at the very top (hidden by the ivy in this picture).
An Post Edward VII wallbox with door adapted to show the Saor Stat Eireann logo; dating from the 1920 this one is east of Glenties, Co. Galway in Buncroobog.
Lastly, this Victorian wall box is at The Glen Tavern or Dinny's in Co Donegal. This is a house, which also contains a small shop, and a much larger public bar, where music is frequently played, and a good pint is served!
An Post Victorian wallbox in the Glen Tavern, Greenans Townland, Co Donegal.
The Glen Tavern.
That's all on postmarks etc for this month. October should bring some more slogans if only to start the Movember campaign rolling.
I know this isn't on the list in my previous post but it's timely and brings attention back to the Post Office Ltd failings, and the unchanged culture.
Two reports, one about the computer system used at PO branches before Horizon was introduced, and the other about Fujitsu's reaction to POL asking for a witness statement and evidence this year for a further prosecution. A third report covers continuing waste on NBIT, delays to which mean that Horizon will keep being used.
Report 1
In the week after Sir Alan Bates received his knighthood at Windsor Castle, Computer Weekly reveals failings similar to those in the Horizon case with its predecessor, Capture. Capture was a PC-based accounting system, referred to as 'a glorified spreadsheet'. There was no centralisation of data, and as with Horizon, too little training if any.
Here's the Computer Weekly article by Karl Flinders (links are to CW and WhatDoTheyKnow websites).
Post Office dramatically increased the number of investigations into subpostmasters after Capture Software was introduced
A change in Post Office behaviour after it introduced software to
computerise branch accounts in 1993 mirrors an increase in prosecutions
six years later, when the controversial Horizon system was introduced.
Lives were destroyed as the Post Office blamed subpostmasters for
unexplained accounting shortfalls that only existed on the error-prone
Horizon accounting system used in branches. Former users of Horizon
predecessor, Capture, have been campaigning since January when ITV’s dramatisation of the Post Office scandal revealed parallels to problems they experienced.
Data on Post Office prosecutions has revealed worrying similarities
to how the Post Office treated Horizon and Capture users who suffered
unexplained losses.
According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request,
in the six years before Capture was introduced by the Post Office to
automate manual processes, fewer than five subpostmasters were
investigated over account shortfalls in four of the years, seven
investigations were carried out in 1992, and 11 investigations took
place in 1993. But in the following six years, the number of
investigations increased dramatically to an average of 191 a year,
reaching 378 in 1998.
This mirrors a dramatic change that followed the introduction of the
Horizon system to branches in 1999, in relation to the number of
subpostmasters convicted of financial crimes. According to a separate FOI request from 2020, in the seven years between 1991 and the year before Horizon’s introduction, an average of six subpostmasters were convicted per year,
compared with an average of 52 a year in the 13 years following its
introduction, until the Post Office stopped prosecuting in 2013.
After Capture was introduced, prosecutions increased, but to a much
smaller extent than investigations. However, the Post Office contract
meant subpostmasters who had unexplained shortfalls, which the
investigations typically related to, had to cover those shortfalls with
their own money or face the termination of their contracts or
prosecution.
The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009,
revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they
suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most
widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.
Horizon is a large, complex, networked system connected to
centralised services with links to Post Office systems, which all
subpostmasters have to use. In contrast, the Capture system was a
PC-based application developed by the Post Office
and uploaded to a personal computer by subpostmasters to carry out
their accounts. The software – referred to by some users as a “glorified
spreadsheet” – was a standalone system, which was used by more than
1,500 subpostmasters.
After pressure, the government commissioned an investigation of Capture
to be carried out by forensic specialists Kroll. This report is now in
the hands of the government and its publication is expected soon.
Neil Hudgell, a solicitor at Hudgell Solicitors, which has about 40
former Capture users as clients, said he is confident that the content
of the report will be supportive of his clients’ claims.
Steve Marston was prosecuted in 1996 for theft and false accounting
following an unexplained shortfall of nearly £80,000 in his branch in
Bury, Lancashire. He said he had never had any problems using the
paper-based accounting system. This changed when his branch, which he
ran from 1973, began using Capture.
He covered the losses with his own money, but it kept getting worse.
After an audit revealed a loss he couldn’t fully cover out of his own
pocket, he was advised to plead guilty to theft and fraud to avoid jail.
The judge took into account two bravery awards Marston had received for
standing up to armed robbers, saving him a jail sentence. He was given a
12-month suspended sentence, lost his home and business, and went
bankrupt.
Marston said the stats in the latest FOI response provide a damning
indictment of the effects that the introduction of Capture had. “Are we
really expected to believe that, all of a sudden, honest and
hard-working postmasters who have substantial amounts of money invested
in their businesses have all gone rogue at the same time?
“Surely someone at the Post Office should have seen that the numbers
[of investigations] literally exploded after the introduction of
Capture, which we know to be unfit for purpose and, in my opinion,
should never have been made public.”
Marston, who will meet the government next week to discuss the
Capture controversy, said he hopes to get justice. The government is
expected to publish the Kroll report on Capture soon.
In June, Computer Weekly revealed another similarity between Capture and Horizon
in terms of inadequate training. Subpostmasters used pre-Horizon
Capture software without any training from the Post Office, a failing
that mirrors one of the causes of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Despite a Post Office document from 1995
outlining the training users received, former subpostmasters, who
encountered serious problems with Capture, have come forward revealing
they had no training. One of the major problems with the controversial
Horizon system was the lack of adequate training on using the system.
Computer Weekly has contacted the Post Office for comment.
The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009,
revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they
suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most
widespread miscarriage of justice in British history.
Report 2
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry resumed while we were away: I'm not going to have time to comment on what I haven't even started to watch/listen to, but this report from Mark Sweney of The Guardian shows that, whilst PO CEO Nick Read thinks he has changed the business structure, he really doesn't understand at all.
Post Office asked to use Horizon IT data to support criminal case this year, inquiry hears
The Post Office attempted to use Horizon IT data to support a
criminal case against a post office owner earlier this year, despite
hundreds of post office operators being wrongfully prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting because of bugs in the system.
A chain of email correspondence between the Post Office
and the Horizon developer, Fujitsu, relating to a police investigation
into a potential criminal case involving a “large sum of money” against a
sub-post office operator was shown at the public inquiry into the
scandal on Tuesday.
An email was sent by John Bartlett, the head of investigations at the Post Office, to Fujitsu
describing the Post Office as the “potential victim” and asking for the
software company to provide a witness statement to the police or the
case would not be able to progress.
The issue was rapidly
escalated to Paul Patterson, the chief executive of Fujitsu Europe, who
wrote directly to the Post Office chief executive, Nick Read.
“I
am writing to you directly in order to raise serious concerns that have
come to my attention which indicate the Post Office continues to pursue
enforcement against postmasters and expects Fujitsu to support such
actions,” he said in an email in May.
“We are concerned by the
behaviour of the Post Office investigation team on this matter. That
team maintains the approach of the Post Office as a ‘victim’ and
requires Fujitsu to provide a witness statement as to the reliability of
Horizon data stating that without such statement the case will not
progress. For the investigations team to act in this manner seems to
disregard the serious criticism raised in multiple judicial findings and
indeed exhibits a lack of respect to the ongoing inquiry.”
Read
responded by saying that there had been a “fundamental misunderstanding”
at Fujitsu about the “Post Office’s current day culture and
activities”.
He said that the Post Office was not continuing its
pursuit of post office operators in private prosecutions – “including
providing supporting data from the Horizon system” for cases – and that
it was to help a potential police investigation.
Patterson
responded saying that he considered the request to be “entirely
inappropriate”, adding that the Post Office is “well aware there have
been and there continue to be bugs, errors and defects in the Horizon
system”.
“It seems clear that the Post Office continues to have
significant cultural issues,” he said. “[It] sees itself as a ‘victim’
with the enforcement and prosecution of postmasters considered as a
business as usual activity. Fujitsu finds the language and the suggested
behaviour unacceptable from Post Office investigators.”
Between
1999 and 2015, the Post Office relentlessly pursued and wrongfully
prosecuted more than 700 operators using faulty Horizon IT data.
The
email request to Fujitsu came after ITV aired Mr Bates vs the Post
Office, which brought the plight of the post office operators and use of
the flawed data in legal actions to national attention.
UPDATE 2 October - REPORT 3
Post Office spending £80,000+ a week on engineers who can’t work, as IT project burns cash
In another Karl Flinders Computer Weekly report, it turns out that Horizon replacement NBIT isn't doing so well either.
The Post Office has been paying more than £80,000 per week for
contracted IT engineers to sit idle due to major delays in rolling out
hardware for its New Business IT (NBIT) project.
In yet another example of taxpayers’ money being wasted, as the Post Office tries to rid itself of the system at the centre of a scandal,
Computer Weekly can reveal that £1.6m could be spent on IT staff who
are unable to do work they were contracted to do. This is as a result of
issues with power supply units that can’t be used in the project to
replace the controversial Horizon system. The NBIT project has already
gone from a costing of £180m to £1bn.*
The latest waste was revealed as the Post Office scandal public
inquiry was told by two former Post Office executives – chairman Henry
Staunton and chief financial officer (CFO) Alisdair Cameron – this week
that the NBIT project lacks governance.
According to an internal Post Office NBIT progress update, under the
heading “high level issues”, tech engineers from IT supplier DXC, who
were contracted in mid-June, have no work to do due to the issues with
power supply units. The engineers will have to wait 16 to 20 weeks
before replacement units are available, allowing them to complete the
work they were contracted to do.
Greetings everybody, we're back from Ireland where the weather was much better than it has been, and remains, here in the UK. A taste of this was the yellow alert issued for the eastern side of Northern Ireland after we sailed to Scotland on Wednesday, and what we had for a considerable time in Co Durham and the north east yesterday which continues today- after a sunny interlude across Lincolnshire yesterday afternoon - in Norfolk.
It's happened before that important announcements are made when we take a break, so this is a quick acknowledgement to the many people who have written in the last three weeks.
The following topics will be covered in blog posts soon:
- September slogan postmarks
- Postage rate increase meaning a new airmail rate stamp (and Royal Mail have confirmed that there will be no more airmail rate country definitives.
- outstanding orders: sorry I forgot to shut the shop so a few orders have been delayed.
- forgeries and how Royal Mail is dealing with them
- amazingly incorrect information being supplied by Post Office branches including Crown Offices. (You don't have to use old stamps before the price increase!)
- I'll also be writing about blog comments which have not been published. Comments must be relevant to the post they are on.
- the person who wrote about Universal Mail will get a reply eventually!
News about British stamps - welcome to Norvic Philatelics' blog
News as we get it relies on what I find and what other people find, so please send your news! [email: ian@norphil.co.uk or wild1952@gmail.com
Tel: 08450 090939]
Visit Norvic Philatelics for background on stamp issues and postmarks from 2003-2018, and our web-shop for stamps, postal history, FDCs and postcards.
All basicimages of British stamps and postmarks are the Copyright of Royal Mail* reproduced here with permission. All enlargements or scans showing particular features are copyright Norvic Philatelics or other collectors. You may quote from the blog or website, if you acknowledge the source, including the original source and any name mentioned in our blog, for images. (*Contact Royal Mail's Intellectual Property Office for permission.)
Note: We will only accept guest blog posts on philatelic subjects.
Venezuela philately - STAMP September 2024
-
[image: Venezuela Philately by Alastair Gunn. STAMP magazine UK September
2024]
'STAMP' magazine September 2024
I thught I would mention that the cur...
cddstamps is back writing.... :-)
-
Hello, Sometimes we just forget how fast the days and weeks and months go
by. These past 6 months have been a blurr in many ways. But I am still
aroun...
Coming partially off (un)social media.
-
For a few years, this blog had a page on Facebook, but I've since deleted
it. Also, my forum had a page and group on FB, and now, they are both gone
from...
New King Charles III Horizon Labels
-
Today 31st July 2023 is the last day of validity for the old style Machins
without a barcode. So it is now an official fact and a sad day. It is also
guar...
More QEII stamps with the Flying Scotsman
-
The latest prestige book would be a much more pleasant item to have on the
top of the pile if it is the final one with QEII content. The content
itsel...
Šilutė 1942
-
Postmark of Heydekrug March 1942
Sender's address: Kolleschen bei Jonaten Kreis Heydekrug (Ostpr.)
It has been long since I have posted something here the ...
I Focus... On the 1d Yellow Ochre (Part 3)
-
It began life as an experiment in a new type of stamp vending machine. The
five stamp multi-value horizontal coil strip was issued in these new
vending ma...
Millennium 16 : CN Tower
-
*[This post is another in a series profiling each of the 68 stamps issued
by Canada Post Corporation on September 15, 1999 on the occasion of the new
Mill...
