List of Post Offices Investigated for shortfalls in balances and outcomes of investigations

Arun Malhotra made this Freedom of Information request to Royal Mail Group Limited
This authority is not subject to FOI law, so is not legally obliged to respond (details).
This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Royal Mail Group Limited,

Under the freedom of information act, I would like to request a list of all post offices in the North East region who have been audited and investiaged for shortfalls in their balances between the period of 01.09.2011 and 01.09.2012. In addition to this, i would also like to request a list of the outcomes from these investigations.

Under the same act, when post masters are placed under suspension, pending the investigation, I would ike to request your policies and proceedures for putting a replacement in place, thus ensuring the post office remains open to the public.

Yours faithfully,

Arun Malhotra

Royal Mail Group Limited

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Dear Mr Malhotra,

Ref: KFME-8Y4K7X

Thank you for your request for information received on 13 September 2012,
which we are considering under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the
Act you should expect a reply from us to be sent by 11 October 2012, which
is twenty working days from receipt of your request.

If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
that time, we will contact you explaining the reasons for this and giving
a revised date by which we will reply.  

If in the meantime you have any questions or would like to contact us
about your request, please contact us by telephone 0207 250 2647 or
alternatively email or write to us at the address below.  Please be
assured that we are giving this our attention and will get back to you
shortly.

Yours sincerely

Kerry Moodie
Freedom of Information Officer
1^st Floor, Bunhill Row Wing
148 Old Street
London
EC1V 9HQ

Post Office Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered No.
2154540. Registered Office 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ. Post Office
and the Post Office logo are registered trademarks of Post Office Ltd.

Royal Mail Group Limited

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Malhotra, 

Your ref: KFME-8Y4K7X

Further to your recent Freedom of Information request, we need to seek
clarification from you regarding the area you state as the North East
Region.

It may help to explain that we align our areas as detailed on the Direct
Gov website using the following link
[1]http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/M...

Therefore, please can you confirm if the area defined as the North East of
England on the Direct Gov site covers the scope of your request or if you
would like to provide a more specific area. If you do provide an area that
you wish to be considered it may help if you state the postcodes for these
areas.

If in the meantime you have any questions or would like to contact us
about your request, please contact us by telephone on 0207 250 2647 or
alternatively email or write to us at the address below.   
Yours sincerely
 

Andrew Moore

Freedom of Information Support

1^st Floor, Bunhill Row Wing

148 Old Street

London

EC1V 9HQ
Post Office Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered No.
2154540. Registered Office 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ. Post Office
and the Post Office logo are registered trade marks of Post Office Ltd”.

References

Visible links
1. http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/M...

Dear Royal Mail Group Limited,

I am writing in response to your letter dated 19th September, in which you asked for clarification as to what i was referign to as the North East Region. Quite simply, I'm referring the whole of thw North East as defined bu the government office boundaries. Quite where the confusion has arisen is beyond me.

Yours faithfully,

Arun Malhotra

Dear Mr Malhotra,

 

Ref: Freedom of Information Request - KFME-8Y4K7X

 

Thank you for your email dated 09 October 2012, clarifying your recent
Freedom of Information request.

 

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), a reply
will be sent to you by 06 November 2012, which is twenty working days from
receipt of your clarification.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of this response, you do have a
right to request an internal review. You can do this by writing to the
address below stating your reasons for your internal review request:

 

Senior Engagement & Involvement Manager

Post Office Ltd

1^st Floor

Old Street Wing

148 Old Street

London

EC1V 9HQ

[1][email address]  

 

 

If, having requested an internal review by Post Office Limited, you are
still not satisfied with our response you also have a right of appeal to
the Information Commissioner at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Cory Alexis

Information Rights Support

Information Rights Team

 

Post Office Ltd

1st Floor, Old Street Wing

148 Old Street

London

EC1V 9HQ

 

Tel: 020 7250 2647

Post: 5460 2647 

 

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1 Attachment

Dear Mr Malhotra,

 

Ref: Freedom of Information Request - KFME-8Y4K7X

 

I am writing in response to your email received by Post Office Limited on
09 October 2012, which I am dealing with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

In your email you have asked for information in two parts:

 

1. Please provide a list of Post Offices investigated for shortfalls in
balances and outcomes of investigations

 

I can confirm that we do hold a list of Post Office branches investigated
by our Security team for balance discrepancies, however Post Office Ltd
believes that by disclosing the name of the branches requested it would be
possible to identify the individual Subpostmaster; information which we
believe to be the personal data relating to a third party. In this respect
we rely on the exemption contained in section 40 (2) of the Freedom of
Information Act, concerning personal information. We believe the
disclosure of this information would contravene data protection
principles, and disclosing such information would be likely to breach the
principle of fair and lawful processing.

 

I can though confirm that nine branches been investigated between August
2011 to October 2012 in the North East Region, for balance discrepancies;
the outcomes are contained within the table below:

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Number | Outcome |
|------------------------------+-----------------------------------------|
| 3 | Ongoing investigation |
|------------------------------+-----------------------------------------|
| 2 | Prosecution |
|------------------------------+-----------------------------------------|
| 4 |No-Prosecution – poor controls identified|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

2. When post masters are placed under suspension pending the
investigation, I would like to request your policies and procedures for
putting a replacement in place, thus ensuring the post office remains open
to the public.

 

I can advise that Post Office Ltd does hold the information you have
requested, but not in the format you have requested. The procedure for
arranging a temporary agent following a suspension is contained within the
attached flowchart. We have redacted individuals names from the flowchart;
Post Office Ltd relies on the exemption contained in section 40 (2) of the
Freedom of Information Act, concerning personal information, for the
reasons stated in response to part 1 of your request.

 

We have also redacted further information which we believe is exempt from
disclosure under section 43 (2) of the Act, concerning likely prejudice to
commercial interests. This is because the information contained in the
document relates to our commercial relationships with partners who provide
services to Post Office Ltd.

An example of how Post Office Ltd’s and its partner’s commercial interests
would likely be prejudiced by the disclosure of this information is how
third parties could react to the availability of the information. The
disclosure of this information could be used by competitors to target the
services provided by our partners and thereby prejudice their commercial
interests  

As information has been exempted under section 43 (2) of the act, a public
interest test applies: We understand the public interest in promoting
transparency and accountability. However, there is also strong public
interest in ensuring that Post Office Ltd and its partners are able to
operate in a fair marketplace and are not commercially damaged by the
release of the information.

 

Post Office Limited considers that, with regard to the information that
has been withheld from disclosure, the public interest is best served by
maintaining the current operating conditions for Post Office Limited and
its partners. Post Office Limited therefore considers that on balance the
public interest is in favour of maintaining the exemption in respect of
the information requested.

 

I am sorry that I haven’t been able to provide you with all of the
information you have requested on this occasion, although I do hope the
information I have provided is of use. If you are dissatisfied with the
handling of this response, you do have a right to request an internal
review. You can do this by writing to the address below stating your
reasons for your internal review request.

 

Senior Engagement & Involvement Manager

Post Office Ltd

1^st Floor

Old Street Wing

148 Old Street

London

EC1V 9HQ

[1][email address]  

 

If, having requested an internal review by Post Office Limited, you are
still not satisfied with our response you also have a right of appeal to
the Information Commissioner at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

Kerry Moodie

Information Rights Team Leader

 

Post Office Ltd

1^st Floor

Old Street Wing

148 Old Street

London

EC1V 9HQ

Post Office Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered No.
2154540. Registered Office 148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ. Post Office
and the Post Office logo are registered trademarks of Post Office Ltd.

 

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