Post Office changes IT leadership reshuffle decision

Timeline of the Post Office Horizon case since Computer Weekly first reported on it in 2009

• May 2009: Bankruptcy, prosecution and disrupted livelihoods – postmasters tell their story.
• September 2009: Postmasters form action group after accounts shortfall.
• November 2009: Post Office theft case deferred over IT questions.
• February 2011: Post Office faces legal action over alleged accounting system failures.
• October 2011: 85 subpostmasters seek legal support in claims against Post Office computer system.
• June 2012: Post Office launches external review of system at centre of legal disputes.
• January 2013: Post Office admits Horizon system needs more investigation.
• January 2013: Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence.
• January 2013: Post Office wants to get to bottom of IT system allegations.
• June 2013: Investigation into Post Office accounting system to drill down on strongest cases.
• July 2013: Post Office Horizon system investigation reveals concerns.
• October 2013: End in sight for subpostmaster claims against Post Office’s Horizon accounting system.
• October 2013: Former Lord Justice of Appeal Hooper joins Post Office Horizon investigation.
• November 2013: 150 subpostmasters file claims over ‘faulty’ Horizon accounting system.
• September 2014: Fresh questions raised over Post Office IT system’s role in fraud cases.
• December 2014: MPs blast Post Office over IT system investigation and remove backing.
• December 2014: Why MPs lost faith in the Post Office’s IT investigation, but vowed to fight on.
• December 2014: MPs to debate subpostmaster IT injustice claims.
• December 2014: MP accuses Post Office of acting “duplicitously” in IT investigation.
• January 2015: MPs force inquiry into Post Office subpostmaster mediation scheme.
• January 2015: Post Office faces grilling by MPs over Horizon accounting system.
• February 2015: Post Office CIO will talk to any subpostmaster about IT problems, promises CEO.
• March 2015: Post Office ends working group for IT system investigation day before potentially damaging report.
• March 2015: MPs seek reassurance over Post Office mediation scheme.
• March 2015: Retiring MP aims to uncover truth of alleged Post Office computer system problems.
• April 2015: Post Office failed to investigate account shortfalls before legal action, report claims.
• April 2015: Criminal Courts Review Commission set to review subpostmasters’ claims of wrongful prosecution.
• May 2015: IT system related to subpostmaster prosecutions under review by CCRC.
• June 2015: Post Office looking to replace controversial Horizon system with IBM, says MP.
• July 2015: Campaigners call for independent inquiry into Post Office Horizon IT system dispute.
• October 2015: James Arbuthnot takes Post Office IT fight to House of Lords.
• November 2015: The union that represents Post Office subpostmasters has warned of a problem with the Horizon accounting system.
• November 2015: An email from Post Office IT support reveals a problem with the Horizon system and supporting processes that could lead to accounting errors.
• November 2015: Group litigation against Post Office being prepared in Horizon dispute.
• February 2016: Post Office faces group litigation over Horizon IT as subpostmasters fund class action.
• June 2016: Post Office chairman Tim Parker says there would be “considerable risk” associated with changing its Horizon computer system.
• November 2016:The legal team hired by a group of subpostmasters will take their case to the next stage.
• January 2017: The group action against the Post Office that alleges subpostmasters have been wrongly punished for accounting errors gets a green light from the High Court of Justice.
• March 2017: 1,000 subpostmasters apply to join IT-related group litigation against Post Office.
• April 2017: Investigation into claims of miscarriages of justice in relation to a Post Office accounting system has appointed a forensic accountant firm.
• May 2017: Hundreds of subpostmasters have applied to join IT-related legal action since March.
• July 2017: Post Office defence in computer system legal case due this week.
• August 2017: Campaigners submit initial evidence in group litigation against Post Office over controversial Horizon IT system.
• October 2017: Subpostmasters’ group action against the Post Office reaches an important milestone.
• November 2017: An end is in sight for subpostmasters’ campaign against alleged wrongful prosecution, which they blame on a faulty computer system.
• November 2017: The High Court judge managing the subpostmasters versus Post Office legal case over an allegedly faulty computer system tells legal teams to cooperate.
• January 2018: Forensic investigation into Post Office IT system at centre of legal case nears completion.
• April 2018: Criminal Cases Review Commission forensic examination of the IT system at the centre of a legal case against the Post Office has raised further questions.
• May 2018: Post Office branches unable to connect to Horizon computer system for several hours after morning opening time.
• October 2018: After over a decade of controversy, next week marks the beginning of a court battle between subpostmasters and the Post Office.
• November 2018: Case against Post Office in relation to allegedly faulty computer system begins in High Court.
• November 2018: High Court case in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has revealed a known problem with a computer system at the core of the dispute.
• November 2018: A High Court trial, where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office for damages caused by an allegedly faulty IT system, ends second week.
• November 2018: Post Office director admits to Horizon errors and not sharing details with subpostmaster network.
• November 2018: The High Court trial in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has reached an important stage.
• December 2018: CCRC may hold off subpostmaster decision until after Post Office Horizon trial.
• December 2018: Court case where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office set to span at least four trials and extend into 2020.
• January 2019: Subpostmasters’ campaign group attacks Post Office CEO Paula Vennells’ New Year honour amid ongoing court case.
• January 2019: Thousands of known errors on controversial Post Office computer system to be revealed.
• March 2019: Tech under spotlight at High Court in second subpostmasters versus Post Office trial.
• March 2019: Post Office considered Horizon IT system “high risk”, court told.
• March 2019: CCRC watching Post Office Horizon trial closely.
• March 2019: Judge rules that Post Office showed “oppressive behaviour” in response to claimants accused of accounting errors they blamed on Horizon IT system.
• March 2019: Post Office ‘lacked humanity’ in the treatment of subpostmasters, says peer.
• March 2019: A High Court judge heard that the Post Office did not investigate a computer system error that could cause losses, despite being offered evidence.
• March 2019: The Post Office legal team in the case brought by more than 500 subpostmasters has called for the judge to be recused after questioning his impartiality.
• March 2019: A senior civil servant asked the Post Office to repay public money it had wrongly allocated to paying legal costs.
• April 2019: Subpostmaster claimants’ legal team makes application for the Post Office to pay millions of pounds of costs associated with trial.
• April 2019: Post Office to appeal judgment from first Horizon trial.
• April 2019: The Post Office’s claim that the judge overseeing the case concerning its controversial Horizon IT system was biased has been dismissed – but will now be considered by the Court of Appeal.
• April 2019: MP questions government over Post Office Horizon case.
• April 2019: Government says no conflict of interest in trial despite Post Office chairman’s dual role.
• May 2019: The Court of Appeal has refused the Post Office’s application to appeal a major decision in the Horizon IT trial.
• May 2019: The Post Office has applied for permission to appeal judgments from the first trial in its IT-related legal battle with subpostmasters.
• May 2019: The judge in the Post Office Horizon trial has ordered the organisation to pay the legal costs of its courtroom adversaries, and refused to give permission to appeal a major judgment.
• June 2019: Post Office asks Court of Appeal for permission to appeal judgment in first Horizon trial.
• July 2019: The Post Office has admitted that some subpostmasters are at risk of accounts not balancing due to an error it does not understand.
• July 2019: Problem revealed during High Court trial left subpostmaster with £18,000 surplus after IT system failed to register full amount of cash scanned in.
• August 2019: Subpostmasters suffering slow running and frozen terminals while Post Office searches for a fix to issues apparently caused by a software update.
• August 2019: The Post Office has fixed the latest problems with its Horizon system, affecting hundreds of branches.