The Post Office’s (PO) new Consultative Council met for the first time on 27 January, as the PO aims to expand opportunities to hear from postmasters in the wake of the Horizon scandal.
PO said the new council’s function will be “to provide a representative postmaster perspective on strategy, culture, funding and governance.” The council agenda could in the future include topics such as banking hubs, the Government’s Green Paper on the future of the Post Office, technology strategy or new product development, PO said, though the company did not reveal details of the discussions at the first meeting last week.
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The council is comprised of groups representing postmasters, including the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, Communication Workers Union, Voice of the Postmaster, alongside Post Office’s postmaster non-executive directors and Post Office leadership.
The council will meet regularly ahead of Post Office board meetings and a summary of discussions will be published for postmasters to access in a new regular newsletter from the postmaster non-executive directors.
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In recent months PO has been pushing to implement its ‘New Deal for Postmasters’, which was announced in November and aims to amplify postmasters’ voices in the running of the company in the wake of the Horizon scandal.
The Horizon Inquiry heard its closing statements in mid-December.
Alongside the new council, PO has introduced other measures including a panel of postmasters to feedback to management on operational policy, as well handing over the hosting of March’s Postmaster conference to postmasters.
The company also launched a feature on its app in December to allow postmasters to more easily access emergency services, social media abuse help, and more. Postmasters were also allocated an extra £20m remuneration.
Council chair Brian Smith said: “The Consultative Council is an example of the changes which are being implemented at Post Office following evidence heard at the Public Inquiry about the need to embed the postmaster voice throughout the organisation – from the board to the frontline”.
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