National Federation of SubPostmasters

Last updated
National Federation of SubPostmasters
AbbreviationNFSP
Formation1897
PurposeMembership organisation, representing subpostmasters
Headquarters Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex
Region
United Kingdom
Chief executive officer
Calum Greenhow
Website www.nfsp.org.uk

The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) is a membership organisation, which represents subpostmasters in the United Kingdom. Subpostmasters are self-employed business operators, approved by Post Office Ltd to act as their agents in running Post Office branches (outlets). In Jan 2023, the NFSP had 6727 members who operated approximately 9,300 post office branches. [1] Post Office Ltd is contractually obliged to consult the NFSP on behalf of subpostmasters. [2]

Contents

The NFSP has almost fifty branches throughout the UK, separated into ten geographical regions. Each member is represented by their local Branch Secretary and Regional Secretary; the Board of Non-Executive Directors is made up of serving subpostmasters (each representing a UK region) and three representatives from organisations with a portfolio of post offices (WHSmith, Ryman and SPAR).

History

On 19 April 1897 a group of up to 90 subpostmasters assembled at the Music Saloon, Wood Street, Wakefield to consider forming a national association to "improve the conditions under which subpostmasters labour and to undertake the advancement of our interests by all legitimate and honourable means".

The federation was formed, with Wakefield as its headquarters, and the first conference was held in Nottingham on 11 April 1898. The first edition of a monthly newspaper The SubPostmaster was published on 4 September 1899, and Joseph Ranns, founder and first National President, wrote the inaugural article. The magazine is still published today. In February 1947, the federation's headquarters moved to Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex.

The NFSP was originally a trade union. In 2013 the Post Office stated that they did not recognise the NFSP for collective bargaining purposes. [3]

Following a ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal that subpostmasters were not employees of Post Office Ltd, but were engaged under a contract for services, the Trades Union Certification Officer wrote to the NFSP to say that he believed the organisation did not meet the legal requirements to continue to be recognised as a trade union. Having rejected arguments against this by the NFSP, the Certification Officer stripped the organisation of trade union status on 13 January 2014. [4] Via a democratic vote, members chose overwhelmingly to reject amalgamation with other trade unions. The NFSP changed its status to a trade association on 1 October 2016. [1]

Since 2016 membership of the NFSP has not charged a membership fee to subpostmasters. The NFSP instead receives funding from Post Office Ltd, consisting of an annual grant payment and funding for approved projects [5] that are made under a Grant Framework Agreement introduced in 2015. [6] The NFSP says its funding allows it to provide practical support to members but does not prevent it from challenging or criticising the Post Office. [7]

Horizon scandal

The NFSP was criticised in March 2019 by Mr Justice Fraser for its actions in relation to the Horizon IT scandal. The judgment handed down stated that "the NFSP is not remotely independent of the Post Office, nor does it appear to put its members’ interests above its own separate commercial interests." [8] [9] [10] The NFSP claimed it had been misled by the Post Office. [11] [7] [10]

The NFSP later issued the following statement:

"The NFSP should have done more under its previous leadership to challenge PO privately and in public and to prevent people from falling victim to this extended miscarriage of justice. We can’t change the decisions of the past, but the NFSP is committed to ensuring that nothing like the Horizon scandal ever happens again." [12]

In March 2020, the parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee launched a "Post Office & Horizon inquiry" and included within the inquiry's terms of reference the question "What role did the National Federation of Sub-postmasters play in the Horizon scandal in terms of representing affected sub-postmasters?" [13] Converted into a statutory inquiry in 2021, the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, led by retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams, included within its list of issues an examination of the knowledge of the NFSP about problems relating to Horizon. [14]

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References

  1. 1 2 National Federation of SubPostmasters (June 2019), "Written submission of the NFSP: POL Network Transformation", House of Commons Committee: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Parliament of the United Kingdom, PON0059. (Alternative PDF link)
  2. ↑ "Freedom of Information Request, ref: OOLO - 9CQB3U" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Recognition for Collective Bargaining - a Freedom of Information request to Post Office Limited". WhatDoTheyKnow. 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2019-04-09. Subpostmasters are not 'workers' for the purposes of the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and as such the Post Office Ltd cannot recognise the National Federation of Sub Postmasters for collective bargaining purposes.
  4. ↑ Certification Officer, Listings decision: National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (PDF), Government of the United Kingdom, archived from the original on 25 July 2019, retrieved 25 August 2023
  5. ↑ "Payments to NFSP - a Freedom of Information request to Post Office Limited". WhatDoTheyKnow. 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  6. ↑ "Grant Framework Agreement". National Federation of SubPostmasters. 2015.
  7. 1 2 Simmonds, Paul (9 April 2019). "Q&A on Bates vs Post Office Ltd". National Federation of SubPostmasters.
  8. ↑ "Bates and Others v Post Office Limited [2019] EWHC 606 (QB). Judgment (No.3) "Common Issues"" (PDF). Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 15 March 2019.
  9. ↑ Wallis, Nick (2 April 2019). "Common Issues trial judgment: The NFSP". Post Office Trial.
  10. 1 2 Flinders, Karl (20 December 2019). "National Federation of Subpostmasters cries foul after court ruling on controversial computer system". Computer Weekly.
  11. ↑ Simmonds, Paul (20 March 2019). "NFSP statement on Bates vs Post Office Ltd "Common Issues" trial verdict". National Federation of SubPostmasters.
  12. ↑ "NFSP statement on the Court of Appeal". National Federation of SubPostmasters. 23 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Post Office & Horizon inquiry launched by BEIS Committee". UK Parliament. 4 March 2020.
  14. ↑ "Completed List of Issues". Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. 17 November 2021.
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