Information Rights Team
Post Office Limited
Ground Floor
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London EC2Y 9AQ
Our reference: FOI2021/00034
Mr John O’Sullivan
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
18 March 2021
Dear Mr O’Sullivan,
Request under the Freedom of Information Act – FOI2021/00034
I am writing in response to your request received by Post Office Limited (“
Post
Office”) on 22 January, which I am dealing with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“
FOIA”).
You have requested the information in relation to the Historical Shortfall Scheme
(“
Scheme”) set out below. I can confirm that Post Office does hold the information
you have requested. See responses.
1.
What date was the first payment made under this scheme?
As communicated to you previously, some interim payments have been made.
The first was made on 20 October 2020.
2.
How many payments have been made under this scheme?
As at 12 March, 21 interim payments have been made.
3.
How many claims have been rejected under this scheme?
As at the end of 5 March, 148 claims were classed as “ineligible” in that they
do not meet the eligibility criteria (available here:
https://www.onepostoffice.co.uk/media/47798/historicalshortfallscheme_eligibi
litycriteria_october-2020.pdf).
4.
How many claims are yet to be decided under this scheme?
Claims are progressing through the Scheme as expeditiously as possible but
none have been concluded yet.
5.
What are the cash values of individual payments made under the
scheme?
Post Office considers that disclosure of this information would, or would be
likely to, prejudice its commercial interests and the information therefore
engages the exemption under section 43 FOIA. The cash values of individual
interim payments made are commercially sensitive and dependent on each
individual’s particular circumstances. Since section 43 is a qualified exemption
the public interest has been considered as required and Post Office has taken
into account the public interest in openness and transparency. However Post
1
Office has concluded that those considerations were outweighed by the public
interest in protecting Post Office’s commercial interests and therefore Post
Office has concluded that the information is exempt from disclosure on the
basis of section 43 FOIA.
6.
Have SPM who have been deemed to be owed money under the
scheme been aske[d] to sign NDA?
As no claims have yet been concluded, no applicants have been identified as
"owed money" at this stage. However recipients of interim payments were not
asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
7.
Can SPM who have been unsuccessful in the scheme appeal against the
decision or ask for the reasons behind the decision?
If a postmaster is not content with the outcome of the assessment of their case
there is a dispute resolution procedure which is further explained in the
Scheme’s Terms of Reference (available here:
https://www.onepostoffice.co.uk/media/47295/historicalshortfallscheme_terms
ofreference.pdf).
If you have any queries about this response, please contact me. Do remember to quote
the reference number above in any future communications.
I hope the information I have provided on this occasion is useful, however 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.
Information Rights Manager
Post Office Limited
Information Rights Team
Ground Floor
Finsbury Dials
20 Finsbury Street
London
EC2Y 9AQ
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
If, having requested an internal review by Post Office, 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: 0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk
2
Yours sincerely,
Chris Russell
Information Rights Team
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/secure-corporate/about-us/access-to-information/
@postofficenews
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
3