Mike Horn’s Post

PO and Fujitsu knew problems with Horizon could cause unexplained losses in PO branches. Phase 3 public inquiry revealed a concerted effort to keep this knowledge out of the accused post office sub postmaster network. https://lnkd.in/eqAR7YU4 #postoffice #computerweekly #governmentscandal

I fully share Sam De Silva's sentiments on the implications of the UK’s #PostOffice scandal. We urgently need to reverse the burden of proof in 'computer's always right' type of legislation. “The Post Office scandal highlights the dangers of unquestioningly accepting the output of IT systems as reliable evidence. “There remains a legal presumption that the computer is always right. “The Post Office could rely on the common law position that the courts were entitled to assume that the IT system was operating correctly. “Without the benefit of the advice of IT experts supporting them, it was for the Post Office staff to prove that the outputs and logs from the computer system were flawed or not accurate. Yet how could non-IT specialists be expected to prove this when even some experienced IT professionals would find it a challenge to do so? “If the Post Office had been required to prove that its computer system was operating reliably most of the individual cases against the Post office staff may well have had a different outcome. “Organisations relying on evidence generated from computer systems to support prosecutions should be required to prove that the underlying computer system is reliable; we hope this will be a clear recommendation from the current inquiry.”

Have you ever heard of famous UK's shameful Post Office scandal ?? • The Post office scandal is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history. • At its heart is a malfunctioning technology – and the refusal to admit it was going wrong. • People died as a result. Others spent time in prison, and had their families’ lives shattered by the cover-up. More than 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for stealing money because of incorrect information provided by a computer system called Horizon. The Post Office itself brought many of the cases to court, and between 1999 and 2015, it prosecuted 700 people - an average of one person a week. Horizon was developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, for tasks such as accounting and stocktaking. It was introduced by the Post Office in 1999. Sub-postmasters quickly complained about bugs in the system after it falsely reported shortfalls - often for many thousands of pounds. Moral of the story is that poorly developed and tested software not only cause financial or functional issues it ruins the life of individual it compromises their social status and life. #softwaretesting #qualityassurance #bugs #ukpostoffice Teknotrait Solutions

When should you consider evaluating your IT infrastructure and IT Support? Is it when an issue arises? Or when the agreement is nearing its renewal date? Or perhaps when your financial resources are made available? I'm familiar with several highly respected and credible IT companies, if you're interested in speaking with any of them, feel free to let me know. <🖤 > #AgentsOf #informationTechnology

Take a look at Housing Management & Maintenance online to read our insights on how new software is tackling the compliance challenge. With social landlords under increasing pressure to improve housing #compliance, our MD David Carr explains the role of software in overhauling safety checks and meeting RSH standards. He discusses common compliance pitfalls, the importance of robust data, and how cloud-based technology can be swiftly implemented to identify any gaps. https://lnkd.in/eS2WHymE

Reminds me of a company I once worked for, although no one was sent to prison, We keep being reprimanded. lead hands who where in charge of parts stock kept finding during inventory discrepancy between the numbers on paper vs what was in stock, one lead hand went as far to say "my parts must be fornicating as I have less stock then what the system says I have, there must be a problem with the computer system", the reply was always the same "it's the mechanics fault" and "there is nothing wrong with the system. So I decided to take matters into my own hands, I wrote down every part I used onto my FLRA with how many parts are in stock after, as the FLRAs are scanned daily and put into the system as a PDF, I would then log my parts used into the system. by doing this I found parts in stock vs what's in the system incorrect quicker, I reported this to my lead hand, a few days later my lead hand approached me and asked if I had installed a part, which I had, we checked the system, it had disappeared off my work order, I showed him my FLRA and the information I had collected. It didnt take long to find out the truth, and we got video evidence. A mechanic would log all parts used into the system for the job when you saved it parts would randomly be deleted. We had all got verbal warnings ⚠️ in the past for the stock levels being incorrect. There was no opologies, what we did get from management was "we know, why wasn't you guys double checking". The solution, you had to press save 3 times to make the system take the parts and then you had to exit and reenter the job to verify the parts had been saved. BBC News - Post Office inquiry live updates: Angela van den Bogerd 'does not recall' being told IT firm could alter accounts - BBC News https://lnkd.in/dH9qaAEc

Guidance on 'appropriate address' for the registered office of a company. Some additional guidance has been issued by Companies House in respect of what is and isn't an 'appropriate address' for a company registered office. An address is an ‘appropriate address’ if, in the ordinary course of events: A document addressed to the company, and delivered there by hand or by post, would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company, and the delivery of documents there is capable of being recorded by the obtaining of an acknowledgement of delivery Examples of services that are not appropriate include:  Only forwarding Court documents and mail from certain UK government departments to the company . Not forwarding general business correspondence addressed to the company. There could be serious consequences for companies using an address service that does not meet the requirements for an appropriate address.   The company and its officers may be committing an offence if their registered office address is not an appropriate address. Companies House may change the registered office of all companies registered at that address to the Companies House default address, which may lead to beginning the process to strike those companies off the register.  There may also be reputational consequences for agents who have marketed and sold registered office services to their customers when those services do not meet the requirements for an appropriate address. #chalfen.com #companieshouse #registeredoffice

Anyone who has watched the recent 'Mr Bates Vs the Post Office' drama on UK TV would be hard-pushed not to have been horrified at the treatment of the Sub-Post Masters over the Horizon Software scandal. It finally seems like justice is coming but of course for those who took their own lives and/or suffered irreparably, no amount of compensation is going to make a big enough impact. Once again we are at the behest of the British Justice system to find out who was to blame for this travesty, and of course most of us are routing for Paula Vennells, based on the portrayal of her as a devious, conniving person in the dramatisation. There is some very important learning here for anyone who still hasn't registered that 'blame fixes nothing'. Blaming the Sub Post Masters was an easy option, punishing them, taking away their self-worth and good standing in their communities and making them out to be the villains meant the Post Office could retain its 'National Standing' as an institution of trust, the red post-box, the Post Office logo and your friendly local post master are all symbolic of good old British traditions. "We are the Post Office! We don't get it wrong!" but they did, badly. My concern now is that the media frenzy is driving the other good old British tradition of putting somebody's head on a stake and parading it for all to see. I fear that in time we will see that that also isn't the answer. I wish that instead of spending millions of tax-payer pounds on a witch hunt, the Government were asking themselves "How did we create an environment in which this was able to happen?" "How will we prevent this happening again?" Perhaps they could spend some of their 'navel gazing' time reflecting on the systems they have created, the checks and balances they use to select partners like Fujitsu and how they respond to failure, which surely they must be used to by now. The biases that exist in the Post Office exist in all of our organisations. Challenging these is critical to creating an environment where we trust our people and they trust us, after all, who the hell would want to work for the Post Office right now? https://lnkd.in/eGx468h8

Do you have an ‘appropriate address’ for the registered office of your limited company?   Under new rules, all companies registering – or registered - with Companies House must ensure their address is an ‘appropriate address’ which means that in the ordinary course of events: - ·        a document addressed to the company, and delivered there by hand or by post, would be expected to come to the attention of a person acting on behalf of the company; and ·        the delivery of documents there is capable of being recorded by the obtaining of an acknowledgement of delivery. If the company’s registered office address fails to meet these requirements the address is not appropriate. Companies House is able to take action against the company and its officers if they break the rules. Fines of up to £1,000 for failing to comply with the rules can be levied and are set out in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The guidance from Companies House states: -  ‘If we’re satisfied a company’s registered office is not appropriate, we’ll change the registered office address to a default address, held at Companies House. If a company’s registered office is moved to the default address, they must provide an appropriate address with evidence of proprietary ownership within 28 days, or we could start the process to strike the company off the register.’  Any company using an agent’s address or another third-party provider’s address as their registered office must make sure the address meets the requirements for an appropriate registered office address. It will no longer be possible to use a Royal Mail PO Box, or equivalent services offered by other parties, as a registered office address.

Our annual registration and renewal window is open until the end of February. If you are unsure whether you need to register, we have produced several pieces of guidance to help you handle people's personal data safely and responsibly. This week's focus is on companies.   It is highly likely that a company would be required to register with the Authority. The vast majority of company records will hold personal data, such as (but not limited to) the identities of Directors contained within the Directors' Register.   The only exception to the obligation of a company which is “established in the Bailiwick” to register with the Authority would be if the company’s directors were all corporate directors and no other processing of personal data was taking place.   Please Note: the above guidance applies to all companies and is not limited solely to companies which have been set up for a commercial purpose. This would include (but not be limited to) companies which have been set up for the purposes of asset holding / personal investment and companies which are currently dormant / non-trading.   🔔 Read more guidance on registration at: https://lnkd.in/eqZHzj8u