Recovery targets hiked to unfair level for Post Office investigators, probe told

Cash recovery targets set for Post Office investigators probing subpostmasters’ shortfalls were raised to an “unfair” level, the Horizon IT Inquiry has heard.

Performance reviews set for former Post Office investigators showed an increase in the amount they were expected to recover during the 2010s from 40% to 65%.

Former investigator Robert Daily told the inquiry that the increased figure “suggests” the recovery of cash was a “high priority” for the Post Office – but said it was not viewed that way by those attempting to achieve the targets.

Mr Daily said investigators were “not adequately supported” before a firm of solicitors was brought in to advise in 2013 – after the probe heard the Post Office’s legal team passed subpostmaster cases on to prosecutors in Scotland without being qualified in Scots law.

The witness also said Horizon data alone was not sufficient to proceed with a prosecution of a subpostmaster in Scotland, but it was sufficient in England and Wales.

The former Post Office investigator was involved in the criminal investigation of two wrongly convicted subpostmasters who died before their convictions were overturned.

Newcastle subpostmaster Peter Holmes was handed a community order and a curfew, and William Quarm, who had a branch in North Uist in Scotland, was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work following their convictions.

Asked why his performance targets had been increased, Mr Daily said on Tuesday: “I can only think it was because of the amount of losses the Post Office were suffering.”

Counsel to the inquiry Emma Price continued: “Was this target indicative of the recovery of funds from those being investigated being a high priority within the Post Office?”

Mr Daily replied: “It was never looked upon as that when we received our targets or our objectives, but it would suggest it was.”

Ms Price then asked: “Was this a target set for all Post Office investigations?”

Mr Daily said: “Yes.”

Ms Price went on: “Do you think this ever influenced the conduct of investigations you were charged with?”

Mr Daily replied: “No.”

Ms Price then asked: “How was this objective at this stage rewarded by the Post Office?”

Mr Daily responded: “I understand where this is coming from – ‘Were we given bonuses for recovering money?’ – it was part of our objectives to do so.

“It didn’t necessarily rely on a bonus – we received a bonus every year regardless.”

Explaining how the bonus system worked, Mr Daily said: “They were individual bonuses for how you performed over the year – if you’ve performed better than someone else.

“So technically you could say this went towards (it), but if you speak to individuals within the investigation team, the investigation managers, it was always considered an unfair target.

“Because any inquiry you did, any case you did, all you could say to a person was ‘Were you in a position to repay the money?’

“If that person didn’t have the money, you couldn’t get blood out of a stone.”

In his witness statement, Mr Daily said he asked for support from Scottish solicitors after becoming “concerned” that he was not receiving the same support as he was in England.

Ms Price asked: “Do you mean that there were no Scottish qualified lawyers within the criminal team?”

Mr Daily replied: “Correct.”

Ms Price continued: “Is it right therefore that, prior to managing to gain approval for BTO Solicitors to advise on Scottish cases in 2013, the criminal law team was providing a decision on whether a case should be passed to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service without being qualified in Scottish law?”

Mr Daily said: “I believe so, yes.”

The counsel to the inquiry then asked: “Did that concern you at the time?”

Mr Daily responded: “It did concern me more when I was on my own in Scotland from about 2000 into 2008, 2009 possibly.

“I was the only investigator and I just felt as if, at times, I would pass a case down to the criminal law team and there wasn’t a full understanding of Scots law.

“I did approach the subject prior to 2013 to question if we could get anyone, but that just wasn’t forthcoming at that time – I can’t recall the dates when I did that.”

More than 700 branch managers were prosecuted by the Post Office after Fujitsu’s faulty accounting software, Horizon, made it look as though money was missing from their shops.

The saga prompted an outcry across the country after it was dramatised in ITV series Mr Bates v The Post Office earlier this month.

Hundreds of subpostmasters are awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.