2014 Deloitte Review and Board Briefing

The request was refused by Post Office Limited.

Dear Post Office Limited,

In response to FOI2022/00062, Post Office disclosed the 2016 Swift Review.

At paragraph 138 of this review, reference is made to two documents produced for POL by Deloitte in May and June 2014, entitled ‘Horizon: Desktop Review of Assurance Sources and Key Control Features’ and an accompanying ‘Board Briefing’.

I would be most grateful if you would disclose both of these documents.

Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Shaikh

information.rights@postoffice.co.uk, Post Office Limited

Our ref: FOI2022/00658

Dear Eleanor Shaikh,

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 20th
September. Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.

The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 18th
October.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Regards,

Information Rights Team

Finsbury Dials

20 Finsbury Street

London
EC2Y 9AQ

information.rights@postoffice.co.uk, Post Office Limited

Dear Eleanor Shaikh

We are writing with regards to your email received by Post Office Limited
(" Post Office") on 20 September, which is being dealt with under the
terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (" FOIA") in which you
requested the following information:

In response to FOI2022/00062, Post Office disclosed the 2016 Swift Review.

At paragraph 138 of this review, reference is made to two documents
produced for POL by Deloitte in May and June 2014, entitled 'Horizon:
Desktop Review of Assurance Sources and Key Control Features' and an
accompanying 'Board Briefing'.

I would be most grateful if you would disclose both of these documents.

At present our view is that your request falls within the scope of both
the section 42 & section 43 FOIA qualified exemptions. As permitted by
section 10 FOIA, Post Office requires further time to consider the public
interest test in relation to these exemptions. An extension is permitted
until such time as is reasonable in the circumstances. Having considered
the FOIA Code of Practice, and in light of the volume and complexity of
the material requested, Post Office considers that an extension of 20
working days is appropriate in this instance and will therefore aim to
respond to you by 15th November.

Kind Regards,

Information Rights Team

Finsbury Dials

20 Finsbury Street

London
EC2Y 9AQ

[1][email address]

Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information
about how we do this can be found on our website at
www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

information.rights@postoffice.co.uk, Post Office Limited

1 Attachment

Dear Eleanor Shaikh,

Please find the attached response relating to your Freedom of Information
request.

Regards,

Information Rights Team

Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ

Dear [email address],

Thank you for your response of 15 November to FOI 2022/00658 regarding two documents prepared by Deloitte for the Post Office in 2014.

As noted in my original request, these documents are referred to in the Swift Review (paragraphs 138-147) which was disclosed via FOI, both by the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Post Office in August 2022:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/8...

The Swift Review makes specific recommendation regarding these reports, noting ‘…the Deloitte reports, or at least the information contained within them, may be disclosable under POL's on-going duties as a criminal prosecutor’.

I would therefore like to request an internal inquiry to determine why these documents are being withheld in the light of specific advise to the Post Office by an independent QC that the information they contain may be disclosable.

Please can your internal inquiry also confirm whether the Post Office deems these documents are disclosable to:

i) the Williams Statutory Inquiry
ii) SPM’s defence teams

Yours sincerely,
Eleanor Shaikh

information.rights@postoffice.co.uk, Post Office Limited

Dear Eleanor Shaikh,

Thank you for contacting us with your request for an internal review.

This has been assigned to a caseworker (our ref: IR2022/00764).

If you have any questions, then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

Information Rights Team

Finsbury Dials

20 Finsbury Street

London
EC2Y 9AQ

Dear [email address],

Case ref: IR2022/00764

It has been twenty days since you confirmed you would undertake an internal review into the handling of FOI 2022/00658 (2014 Deloitte Review and Board Briefing) which was originally submitted on 18 September 2022.

Please refer to my communication of 15 November 2022 regarding my questions for the internal review.

I would be most grateful if you could give me some indication as to when I will receive a response.

Yours sincerely,

Eleanor Shaikh

information.rights@postoffice.co.uk, Post Office Limited

1 Attachment

Dear Eleanor Shaikh,

Please find attached the outcome of your Internal Review request.

Kind regards,

Information Rights Team
Ground Floor
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ