Post Office’s Internal Audit

Dear Post Office Limited,

Annual Reports of POL give no indication that its Internal Audit conducted a system audit of Horizon. Only the 2016 Annual Report cites all the audits conducted by POL’s Internal Audit which are mainstream, financial services and business transformation:

(POL Annual Report 2015-16, p30)
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/compa...

i) Please can you provide documents to evidence if/when POL’s Internal Audit conducted a detailed system audit of Horizon IT itself (as distinct from branch-level audits of Horizon users) prior to the Group Litigation Order made in March 2017?

ii) Please can you confirm if the Royal Mail Internal Audit, on whom POL relied prior to 2013, conducted a detailed system audit of Horizon?

iii) Please can you confirm if POL’s Internal Audit had technical auditors competent and qualified to perform detailed system audits from the time of its inception following POL’s split from Royal Mail?

(Please detail relevant professional qualifications).

iv) Has POL’s Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee ever raise concerns regarding the technical expertise of POL’s Internal Audit?

Yours faithfully,

Eleanor Shaikh