Post Office scandal: Horizon IT system still causing shortfalls

Jerry Brown, a sub-postmaster who has been running his branch in Hadleigh, Suffolk, for more than 17 years, told the BBC while he was “hopeful” for change, he believes the attitude of the Post Office towards sub-postmasters remains the same.

“We are always at the bottom of the pile,” said Mr Brown, who is also on the executive committee of the Voice of the Postmaster group and took part in the YouGov survey.

He added that executives he has spoken to in the past did not “seem to understand or care how difficult it is” to run a branch.

He said it was “impossible” to make any money from running a Post Office at the moment, with three members of staff on-site all the time and other overheads like business rates and electricity bills going up.

“Unless we have more income, we just won’t be here,” he says, adding that he believes the final phase of the inquiry is crucial. “It’s still not over.”

Liam Byrne, the Labour MP who has been leading parliamentary hearings on the scandal, said that redress claims must be processed much more quickly.

Byrne also rold the BBC that the inquiry must confront “big questions” about culture at the top of the Post Office and the treatment of sub-postmasters.

The Post Office has said that it has already made efforts to improve culture and its relationship with sub-postmasters, but it acknowledges there is more to be done.

“The main difference today is that we operate with the mindset that we are working in partnership with our postmasters when approaching any issues,” the company said.