What was the response of BEIS to findings of the review and what action, if any
was taken by POL as a result ?
Written evidence cited above can be found at:
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/G3XvC7plMSEnGnkH8UCot?domain=committees.parliament.
uk
3
10/08/2020
On 21st March 2019, POL issued an application to recuse Mr Justice Fraser, the
High Court Judge presiding over the Group Litigation.
Freedom of
Information
On what date did the POL Board and/or GLO Committee take the decision to
request - Post
pursue this course of action? Was a UKGI representative present at the time?
Offices
Were any more senior departmental representatives present at the meeting, if so
Application to
please can you identify them. Did POL seek ministerial approval before its
Recuse the
application to recuse the Judge?
Judge during its
Horizon Issues
Trial
Please release minutes of this meeting.
On 9th April 2019, POL delivered an appeal against the Judge’s refusal to recuse
himself. Which UKGI/BEIS representatives attended the Board/GLO Committee
meeting at which this further action was authorised?
Please release minutes of this meeting.
4
10/08/2020
According to the Horizon Issues Judgement, in July 2016 the POL Board
approved an IT Strategy document identifying that ‘IT was not fit for purpose,
expensive and difficult to change’ (p 297, para 953):
Freedom of
Information
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/UfTsCgnvyiP4E42TEyvhP?domain=judiciary.uk
request - Post
Office’s IT
Strategy
Please can you disclose if BEIS’s UKGI representative was present at the Board
document of
meeting at which this was discussed? Was the Chair of the Audit, Risk and
July 2016
Compliance Committee in attendance? Who else was present? Please can you
release minutes of this meeting?
5
10/08/2020
According to the Horizon Issues Judgement, a Technology Strategy Update
Decision Paper was issued on 30th January, 2017 (p 297, para 953):
Freedom of
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/UfTsCgnvyiP4E42TEyvhP?domain=judiciary.uk
Information
request - Post
Office’s
The document constitutes an update to a report approved by the POL Board in
Technology
July 2016 (also referred to in the Judgement, as above). Did the 2017 update
Strategy Uodate document receive Board approval? If so, please can you disclose if BEIS’s UKGI
Decision Paper, representative was present at the Board meeting at which this 2017 Update Paper
January 2017
was approved? Was the Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee in
attendance? Who else was present? Please can you release minutes of this
meeting?
2
6
10/08/2020
In her letter of response to the BEIS Select Committee’s current inquiry into POL
and Horizon (24th June 2020) former POL CEO, Paula Vennel s, stated in relation
to POL’s Suspense Accounts:
Freedom of
Information
request - Post
‘Since it was a technical financial control issue, I asked the CFO to look into it...I
Offices
cannot remember how this was resolved’ (p 15, para 53).
Suspense
Accounts
i) Did this request of the CEO to her CFO generate a report into POL’s Suspense
Accounts? If so, please can you release its findings?
i ) Were any other investigations into POL’s Suspense Accounts conducted after
independent Forensic Investigators Second Sight raised concerns over their
origins? If so please can you release their findings?
i i) Did POL’s external auditor ever raise concerns over the unexplained
accumulation, scale or origin of POL’s Suspense Accounts?
7
10/08/2020
A document known as the Wilmington Report is referred to in the NATIONAL
AUDIT OFFICE report of February 2005 ‘Department of Trade and Industry
Financial Support of Post Offices’ (Ordered by the House of Commons).
Freedom of
Information
request - Report https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/yIP_CmYBki1kykni4UJ0Z?domain=nao.org.uk
into the
shareholder
governance
The remit of the report which was commissioned by the NAO from Wilmington
arrangements
Capital Ltd, is described as:
between POL
and its Sponsor
Department
‘ to examine whether the Department’s financial monitoring of Post Office Limited
is appropriate. Using the private sector as a benchmark, they analysed the
shareholding relationship between the Department and Post Office Limited and
considered whether the monitoring and corporate governance relationships meet
the parties’ objectives’ (p14).
i) Please can you advise if a copy of this report is in the possession of the Post
Office and if so, please can you release it?
i ) Please can you indicate what, if any actions were implemented as a result of its
findings regarding the shareholder relationship between POL and its sponsor
department (known at that time as the Department of Trade and Industry)?
8
10/08/2020
As part of its inquiry into the Post Office and Horizon, the Chair of the BEIS Select
Committee asked its former CEO, Paula Vennel s, for information concerning the
involvement of UKGI officials in discussions about Horizon at Board level. In her
Freedom of
letter of response (24th June 2020) Ms Vennel s, stated:
Information
request -
Engagement
‘The UKGI directors were fully engaged in the discussions...The present UKGI
with lawyers at
incumbent director...was fully engaged on the Board, sub- committee and with
BEIS
ministers and lawyers at BEIS’ (p17, para 60 in response to Question 16).
3
i) Please can you confirm the identity of the law firm who were involved on behalf
of BEIS with which the UKGI POL representative was ‘ful y engaged’.
i ) Please can you confirm if a representative from this law firm gave advice or was
involved in discussions which led to POL’s application to recuse Mr Justice Fraser
on 21st March 2019?
i i) Please can you confirm if a representative from this law firm gave advice or
was involved in discussions which led to POL’s appeal against the Judge’s refusal
to recuse himself delivered by POL on 9th April 2019.
iv) Did any lawyer representing the Department for BEIS attend any meetings of
the POL GLO sub-Committee from the time of its inauguration in March 2018 until
the conclusion of the litigation in December 2019?
9
10/08/2020
In his letter to the BEIS Select Committee of 16th June 2020, POL CEO Nick
Read stated:
Freedom of
Information
‘Our General Counsel, Ben Foat, was appointed in May 2019, a number of years
request - Post
after the start of the High Court proceedings and had no previous involvement in
Office’s General the Group Litigation’(p6).
Counsel
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/CqxMCkrzgfYo2oQikx0Te?domain=committees.parliament.uk
Ben Foat’s employment at POL predates the Litigation, dating from 2015. Prior to
becoming its General Counsel his responsibilities as Legal Director included legal
risk management and drafting legal strategy.
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/iSZ4Cl2A0HO6R6ZCgwNjK?domain=lawsociety.org.uk
i) Did Ben Foat as Legal Director attend any meetings of the POL Board GLO
Subcommittee between March 2018 and his appointment as GC in May 2019?
Please can you provide relevant minutes.
i ) Was Ben Foat as Legal Director personal y involved in generating reports for
the Board GLO Subcommittee, or for the Group Director of Legal, Risk and
Governance with regards to the Group Litigation? Please can you supply relevant
documents.
Did Ben Foat as Legal Director have direct communications with POL lawyers
Womble Bond Dickinson or with lawyers representing BEIS with regards to the
Group Litigation prior to May 2019? Please supply relevant documents.
10
10/08/2020
In his Horizon Issues Ruling of December 2019, Judge Fraser expressed concern
that POL investigations routinely used Credence data, or a variety of management
information, to resolve disputes over branch discrepancies rather than consulting
Freedom of
the ARQ (‘Audit’) data:
Information
request - Post
4
Office’s
‘The evidence in both this trial, and the Common Issues trial, where the Post
Historical
Office cross-examined a number of SPMs on events in their branch accounts by
Shortfall
using a variety of management information, other than the audit data, makes clear
Scheme
to me just how important it is to use the audit data, rather than other sources
including management information. The management information is confusing,
contradictory, has been shown to be wrong and requires numerous assumptions
or a “take it from me” type of approach on the part of a questioner. It is rarely
agreed what that management data shows. The audit data, by its very nature, wil
be far superior and the best evidence available of what has occurred on Horizon.
It should be consulted in circumstances where there is a dispute between the Post
Office and a SPM.
(Horizon Issues Judgement, p285, para 905-913).
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/UfTsCgnvyiP4E42TEyvhP?domain=judiciary.uk
i) Please can you confirm, in respect of the Historical Shortfal Scheme, whether
POL wil be consulting ARQ or Credence data supplied by Fujitsu in the course of
its investigations?
i ) Please can you confirm if POL wil identify to every complainant in the scheme
which level of data it is using for its evidence?
11
13/08/2020
According to its Shareholder Relationship Framework Document, Post Office
Limited is to have regular Shareholder meetings with the Department for BEIS
(p27, Appendix 4, 7b).
Freedom of
Information
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/alrlCkrzgfYgzGji26m1-
request -
?domain=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
Shareholder
meetings
between Post
i) Please can you reveal how many such meetings have been conducted
Office Limited
(including virtually) since the Agreement took effect on 1st April 2020?
and the
Department for
i )Please can you release minutes of all Shareholder meetings to date?
Business,
Energy and
Industrial
Strategy
12
13/08/2020
According to its Terms of Reference, POL’s Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee
has a duty to review legal matters which may impact on the financial statements of
the company.
Freedom of
Information
request - Post
The Group Litigation was first mentioned in the 2015-16 POL Annual Report (p74):
Office’s Audit
Risk &
https://protect-
Compliance
eu.mimecast.com/s/xe5pCpkGnuQ536WU2vI9z?domain=beta.companieshouse.g
Committee and
ov.uk
POL’s litigation
i) On what date did the ARC Committee first discuss the emerging risk of the
Group Litigation as a financial, reputational or strategic risk to POL and was
BEIS’s UKGI representative Richard Cal ard present? Please can you release
minutes from this meeting?
5
i ) How regularly was the progress of the litigation monitored by this committee up
until the convening of the GLO Subcommittee in March 2018?
iii) Is POL’s ARC Committee continuing to keep under review the potential
financial/reputational/ strategic posed by POL’s anticipated legal activity at the
Court of Appeal, its Historical Shortfall Scheme and investigations into over 900
previous SPM prosecutions?
iv) Now that the High Court action has been settled, has the POL GLO
Subcommittee been superseded by another committee which is overseeing
current legal strategy and outcomes? If so, please can you identify its
membership?
13
14/08/2020
According to POL’s 2012-13 Annual Report, the BIS Departmental
Representative, Susannah Storey of the Shared Executive, attended all POL’s
Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee meetings within this financial year:
Freedom of
Information
(POL Annual Report 2012-13, p44).
request -
https://protect-
Departmental
eu.mimecast.com/s/VuXzC6BkMSVX5MLfBGq5Q?domain=beta.companieshouse
Representative
.gov.uk
on Post Offices
Audit Risk and
There was no departmental representative on the POL ARC Committee 2013-14:
Compliance
(POL Annual Report 2013-14, p54).
Committee
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/zCIvCZz5giPzJxKUzQ0FZ?domain=beta.companieshouse.go
v.uk
According to the 2015-16 POL Annual Report, the BIS/UKGI representative,
Richard Callard, joined POL’s ARC Committee part way through the financial year:
(POL Annual Report 2015-16, p22 & 25).
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/4N52C5RjMfgABRkC8plko?domain=beta.companieshouse.go
v.uk
i) Please can you reveal the date of the last ARC Committee meeting attended by
Susannah Storey and the date of the first ARC Committee meeting attended by
Richard Callard?
i ) Please can you supply any documentation regarding the reasons for the
departmental representative being withdrawn then re-instated from POL’s ARC
Committee?
i i) Please can you supply documents which show whether these decisions were
made by POL, the Department for BIS, the Shared Executive or its successor
UKGI?
14
14/08/2020
Annual Reports of POL give no indication that its Internal Audit conducted a
system audit of Horizon. Only the 2016 Annual Report cites al the audits
conducted by POL’s Internal Audit which are mainstream, financial services and
Freedom of
business transformation:
Information
request - Post
(POL Annual Report 2015-16, p30)
Office’s Internal https://protect-
Audit
eu.mimecast.com/s/4N52C5RjMfgABRkC8plko?domain=beta.companieshouse.go
v.uk
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-
6
level audits of Horizon users) prior to the Group Litigation Order made in March
2017?
i ) Please can you confirm if the Royal Mail Internal Audit, on whom POL relied
prior to 2013, conducted a detailed system audit of Horizon?
i i) 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 fol owing 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?
15
14/08/2020
The POL Annual Report of 2013-14 explains how a new POL Internal Audit
Department was established after the summer of 2013 following the split from
Royal Mail (having previously relied upon Royal Mail Internal Audit). POL’s
Freedom of
Internal Audit is described as a smal team supported by co-sourcing
Information
arrangements with a major firm:
request - Post
Office’s Internal (POL Annual Report 2013-14, p54):
Audit and out-
https://protect-
sourcing
eu.mimecast.com/s/zCIvCZz5giPzJxKUzQ0FZ?domain=beta.companieshouse.go
arrangements
v.uk
i) Please can you confirm if these co-sourcing arrangements covered IT audits?
i ) If so, did the external suppliers perform any system audit of Horizon and can
you provide the results of any such audit?
16
17/08/2020
On how many occasions has a BEIS Minister and/or UKGI representative for the
Department met with POL directors or officials to discuss the establishment of
POL’s Historical Shortfall Scheme?
Freedom of
Information
request -
i ) Please can you provide minutes of relevant meetings?
MinisterialUKGI
engagement
with Post Office
directors and
officials with
regard to POLs
Historical
Shortfall
Scheme
17
17/08/2020
i) On how many occasions since the Ruling of the Horizon Issues Trial was
handed down on 16th December 2019 has a BEIS Minister and/or UKGI
representative for the Department met with POL directors or officials and
Freedom of
discussed the referrals of Horizon cases by the Criminal Case Review
Information
Commission to the Court of Appeal?
request -
Ministerial
engagement
i ) Please can you provide minutes of relevant meetings?
and POLs
response to the
the Criminal
Case Review
Commission
7
18
17/08/2020
i) On how many occasions has a BEIS Minister and/or UKGI representative for the
Department met with POL directors or officials to discuss investigations into more
than 900 historical prosecutions secured on the basis of potentially unreliable
Freedom of
Horizon data?
Information
request -
MinisterialUKGI i ) Please can you provide minutes of relevant meetings?
engagement
with Post Office
directors and
officials with
regard to POLs
Investigations
into over 900
historical
prosecutions
19
17/08/2020
In her letter of response to the BEIS Select Committee’s current inquiry into POL
and Horizon (24th June 2020) former POL CEO, Paula Vennel s, stated in relation
to the cessation of branch suspense accounts:
Freedom of
Information
‘The suspense account issue relates to the procedures around disputed
request -
shortfalls...this was an area where Post Office needed to improve, both in terms of
HORiceIncreasi
preventing disputes from arising in the first instance, and of dealing with al and
ng Horizons
especial y complex disputes effectively when they arose. One improvement we
Error
made in the first category was the introduction of technology, called HORice,
Repel ency
which could help identify anomalies before they escalated into large losses’ (p6,
para 12 & p8, para 22).
i) Please can you confirm if ‘large losses’ which the HORice technology was
intended to mitigate against, were in branch accounts?
i ) When was this technology introduced?
i i) Please can you release documentation which monitored the impact of HORice
on reducing the incidence and size of ‘large losses’, comparing rates before and
after its implementation?
(Paula Vennel s’ letter can be found at:
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/MOOlCJNL1CpLrpvcGcUak?domain=committees.parliament.
uk/ )
20
17/08/2020
On 23rd May 2019 Judge Fraser ordered POL to pay £5.5m to the Claimants for
costs incurred during the Common Issues Trial (transcript below). POL’s QC, Mr
Cavendar sought a 14 day extension to the payment deadline explaining: ‘It is a
Freedom of
question of arranging the funds I suppose and talking to our shareholder about it’.
Information
request -
Shareholder
i) Please can you release documents between POL and the Department for BEIS
Permission for
and/or between POL and UKGI regarding the authorisation of this payment from
costs in POLs
the shareholder?
Horizon
Litigation
8
ii) What was the agreed threshold beyond which POL was bound to consult its
shareholder before releasing funds to Claimants as part of the Horizon Litigation?
Please can you release documentation in which such limits were specified?
On 11th December 2019 mediation between POL and the GLO Claimants
concluded with a £57.75m settlement awarded to the Claimants.
i i) Please can you release documents detailing communications between POL
and the Department for BEIS and/or documents detailing communications
between POL and UKGI which authorised this payment?
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/7O0GCOPQGC5rR5jSA2wLl?domain=postofficetrial.com
21
17/08/2020
On 6th July 2020 in a written response to Lord Arbuthnot, BEIS’s Parliamentary
Under-Secretary, Lord Cal anan made the following comment:
Freedom of
‘Following the Common Issues Judgment in March 2019, POL advised Ministers
Information
that it intended to change its approach to the litigation. This included changes to
request -
the POL legal team and strategy...’
Communication
https://protect-
s from POL
eu.mimecast.com/s/ZeCsCQ6VXiB4ABpcGACTw?domain=theyworkforyou.com
updating BEIS
of its change in
legal strategy
i) Please can you release correspondence and/or minutes of meetings in which
March 2019
POL advised the Department for BEIS and/or its UKGI representatives of the
aforesaid change in legal strategy after the Common Issues Judgement of March
2019?
i ) Please can you release correspondence and/or minutes of meetings in which
the Department for BEIS and/or its UKGI representative responded to POL’s
information regarding the change in its legal team and strategy as a result of the
Common Issues Judgement?
22
17/08/2020
In her letter of 24th June to the BEIS Select Committee ex-POL CEO Paula
Freedom of
Vennel s refers to remedial actions taken by POL in response to the 2011 Ernst &
Information
Young management letter which had exposed weaknesses in the control and
request -
security procedures around Horizon. She maintains ‘improvements to controls’
Horizon and
and ‘focused management action’ resulted in an ‘ultimately positive outcome’ as
Privileged User
E&Y audits of 2012 and 2013 ‘made less significant recommendations for further
Access
improvements’ (Link, p12, para 40).
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/MOOlCJNL1CpLrpvcGcUak?domain=committees.parliament.
uk
In the Horizon Issues Judgement, however, Judge Fraser is clear that Privileged
User Access logs were not adequately maintained until 2015 which he considers
‘...a serious deficiency both in the required level of controls in Horizon, in the
recording of what privileged users were actually doing...and also a corresponding
absence of recording and auditing those activities’
(Horizon Issues Judgement p218, para 692-694, p118, para 393-394).
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/NtlOCKLMGt8xE8Nc365Ly?domain=judiciary.uk
9
i) Please can POL release relevant passages of the E&Y SAS70 audit reports
and/or management letters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 which address ongoing
weaknesses in the control and security procedures around Horizon.
i ) Please can you confirm if these audits reports and/or management letters were
considered by POL’s Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and if so please
supply minutes of the relevant meetings identifying al attendees.
23
17/08/2020
The Dalmellington bug lay undiscovered in Horizon though its effects were
apparent from 2010-2015.
Freedom of
(Horizon Issues Judgement p136, para 447-449
Information
https://protect-
request -
eu.mimecast.com/s/NtlOCKLMGt8xE8Nc365Ly?domain=judiciary.uk
Horizons
Dalmellington
and Horizon Issues Technical Appendix p 42-44, para 163-171).
bug
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/S08YCPzRGivAGvRSZ8ZM_?domain=judiciary.uk
In December 2015 an investigation by Fujitsu- prompted by the impact of this bug
at a post office branch- revealed it had caused 112 incidents since 2010. A
confidential briefing arising from this investigation was given to POL.
i) Please can you confirm if this report was presented to POL’s Audit Risk and
Compliance Committee?
i ) If so please can you provide relevant minutes detailing al attendees when it
was discussed.
i i) Please can you release this report?
24
18/08/2020
According to the Shareholder Relationship Framework Document between
BEIS/UKGI and POL implemented on April 1st 2020:
Freedom of
Information
‘2.3 The Shareholder may also issue a periodic Chair Letter (the “Chair Letter”)’ (p
request - Letter
6) https://protect-
to the Chair of
eu.mimecast.com/s/jxjTCPzRGivyLlVTzgxg2?domain=assets.publishing.service.g
POL from the
ov.uk
Shareholder
Please can you determine whether such a Chair Letter has been received by POL
from the Department for BEIS and if so please can you reveal its contents?
25
18/08/2020
During its High Court Horizon Litigation, Judge Fraser original y asked POL to
report its legal costs to the Court at £250k intervals, but POL costs rose so rapidly
he had to adjust the reporting interval to £500k:
Freedom of
Information
request - Post
https://protect-
Office’s legal
eu.mimecast.com/s/QAJvCXr3PfBpLJrT9KaBa?domain=lawgazette.co.uk
costs and
reporting
intervals to
At what intervals was it decided that POL would report its legal costs to
BEIS/UKGI
BEIS/UKGI and was this reporting interval ever adjusted to accommodate the high
rate of expenditure?
10
26
18/08/2020
According to the Shareholder Relationship Framework Document between
BEIS/UKGI and POL implemented on April 1st 2020 POL must produce an Annual
Business Plan and a three year Strategic Plan
to include:
Freedom of
Information
‘high level financial and performance projections, at both the corporate and line-of-
request - Post
business level, with sensitivity analyses of the major risks...’ (p 7-9)
Office’s Group
https://protect-
Plans, the
eu.mimecast.com/s/jxjTCPzRGivyLlVTzgxg2?domain=assets.publishing.service.g
impact of its
ov.uk
High Court
Litigation and
ongoing claims
i) What provision has been made in these plans for the ongoing costs relating to
related to
POL’s Horizon issues, namely the 47 cases referred by the Criminal Case Review
Horizon
Commission to the Court of Appeal, the 1800 applicants to the Historical Shortfal
Scheme and the 900 plus historic sub-postmaster prosecutions POL is currently
investigating?
i ) Have these plans been informed by an Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee
Report on the potential scale of risk of the above factors to the financial position of
POL?
27
18/08/2020
According to the Shareholder Relationship Framework Document between
BEIS/UKGI and POL implemented on April 1st 2020, POL’s Board is bound to
inform the Department prior to taking any final decision on a Relevant Issue which
Freedom of
is defined as:
Information
request -
‘an issue which may have a material adverse effect upon the business or financial
Relevant Issues prospects of the Group or any Group Company’ and/or ‘regulatory matters, such
as any Group Company being referred for regulatory investigation by a relevant
regulatory authority’ (p18)
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/jxjTCPzRGivyLlVTzgxg2?domain=assets.publishing.service.g
ov.uk
Please can you confirm if the activities of POL with regard to the list below are
considered by the Board to be Relevant Issues and therefore subject to reporting
to the Shareholder prior to a final decision being taken?
i) 47 cases referred by the Criminal Case Review Commission to the Court of
Appeal,
i ) 1800 applicants to the Historical Shortfall Scheme,
iii) 900 plus historic sub-postmaster prosecutions POL is currently investigating
28
19/08/2020
According to Kel y Tolhurst, replying to Kevan Jones’s parliamentary question
246965 of 24th April 2019:
Freedom of
Information
‘Ministers have met with directors and officials of the Post Office four times in the
request -
last 12 months to discuss a number of topics including the ongoing group litigation’
Ministerial
(8th May 2019).
11
engagement
with POL
directors and
Ms Tolhurst’s answer to Kevan Jones’s follow-up question of 6th June 2019
officials
discloses that she and her predecessor Andrew Griffiths MP, were Ministers in
attendance along with POL’s Chair, CEO, CFO and executive director covering
Legal Affairs.
i) Please can you release minutes of these four meetings?
i ) Please can you disclose on how many occasions a Minister from BEIS has met
with POL directors and officials since 8th May 2019?
(See MP: Mr Kevan Jones - Written Questions to Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy):
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/C3aCCE0Dyi1M9X9uQovSh?domain=parallelparliament.co.u
k
29
19/08/2020
In her reply to MP Kevan Jones’ parliamentary question on 6th June 2019, BEIS
Postal Minister Kelly Tolhurst makes reference to a pre-Board dinner on 25th
March 2019 attended by the department’s UKGI representative Tom Cooper (see
Freedom of
link below).
Information
request - POL
Board meeting
i) Please can you provide a list of al attendees at the subsequent POL Board
March 2019 and meeting on 25th March 2019?
two-day
Strategy
i ) Please can you confirm if POL’ s Recusal Application submitted to the High
meeting 26-27th Court 4 days previously was discussed at this Board Meeting?
June 2018
i i) Please can you release minutes of this Board meeting?
iv) On what date did the POL Board approve the decision to Recuse Justice
Fraser?
In her reply to Kevan Jones MP, Kel y Tolhurst also makes reference to a two-day
strategy meeting 26-27 June 2018 attended by a member of UKGI in lieu of Tom
Cooper.
iv) Please can you identify who the UKGI representative was who attended in lieu
of Tom Cooper and if this two-day meeting included on its agenda legal strategy
with regards to the Group Litigation?
(see below, MP: Mr Kevan Jones - Written Questions to Department for Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy):
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/C3aCCE0Dyi1M9X9uQovSh?domain=parallelparliament.co.u
k
12
30
19/08/2020
On 15th May 2014, Fujitsu announced the appointment of Michael Keegan as
Head of its UK and Ireland activities (see below). The article notes that prior to
joining Fujitsu, Mr Keegan’s experience in the IT sector ‘included holding senior
Freedom of
leadership roles at the Royal Mail Group/Post Office Ltd’.
Information
request -
Michael
Please can you identify the senior leadership roles held by Michael Keegan at
Keegan, former POL along with relevant dates?
employee of
Post Office
Limited
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/jdXHCGMGASWGYXYs1nM3b?domain=fujitsu.com
31
19/08/2020
According to the Shareholder Relationship Framework Document between
BEIS/UKGI and POL implemented on April 1st 2020, there must be a Shareholder
meeting at least twice per annum attended by the Shareholder NED, Shareholder
Freedom of
representative at Executive Level, Policy Sponsor and Policy Champion (p11).
Information
request -
Shareholder
i) Please can you advise if such a Shareholder meeting has been convened, if so,
Meeting at POL how many times and who attended?
i ) Please can you release minutes of the meeting?
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/99e_Cy9Rzc6kXVXsZz9f7?domain=assets.publishing.service
.gov.uk
32
19/08/2020
Please can you identify how many Post Office Limited auditors responsible for
conducting audits at branch level have been investigated, faced disciplinary action
or have removed from duty as a result of irregularities in branch audits?
Freedom of
Information
request - POL
Please provide numbers per annum since the rollout of Horizon in 1999.
Auditors
33
20/08/2020
In written evidence to the BIS Select Committee Inquiry of 2015, POL gave the
Fujitsu
following assurance:
Assurances
‘There is no functionality in Horizon for either a branch, Post Office or Fujitsu
regarding
(suppliers of the Horizon system) to edit, manipulate or remove transaction data
Horizon and
once it has been recorded in a branch’s accounts’ (point 47).
remote access
http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidenc...
The stance on remote access of that time is recal ed by ex POL CEO Paula
Vennel s in her letter of response to the BEIS Select Committee’s 2020 Inquiry
into POL and Horizon:
‘I raised this question repeatedly, both internally and with Fujitsu, and was always
given the same answer: that it was not possible for branch records to be altered
remotely without the sub-postmaster’s knowledge’.
13
Please can you supply communications and/or audit reports from Fujitsu in which
Fujitsu gives assurance that branch accounts could not be remotely accessed
without an SPM’s knowledge and on which POL’s based the assurances it gave to
MPs?
(Below, letter from Paula Vennel s to BEIS Select Committee of 24th June 2020,
p16, point 54):
https://committees.parliament.uk/publica...
34
24/08/2020
In a letter to Marion Fel ows MP of 8th June 2020, Post Office CEO Nick Read
reveals a total of 1199 temporary branch closures across the network at 31st
March 2020. This figure is exclusive of branches impacted by Covid-19.
Freedom of
Information
request -
i) Please can you reveal how many of the 1199 closures were triggered by
Temporary
irregularities in branch accounts fol owing POL audits?
Branch Closures
as of 31st March
2020
Ii) Of any closures due irregularities in branch accounts, how many sub-
postmasters:
a) were suspended?
b) have been re-instated?
c) had their contracts terminated?
(Letter in Hansard Deposited Paper’s):
https://protect-
eu.mimecast.com/s/s8hyCV71Wi0DjApIQ4vGW?domain=data.parliament.uk
35
24/08/2020
i) How many SPMs who ran Post Office branches located in McColls stores have
been suspended and/or terminated as a result of unexplained discrepancies in
branch accounts discovered by POL audit since 1999?
Freedom of
Information
request - Post
i ) How many Post Office branches in McColls stores have been temporarily
Office branches closed due to unexplained discrepancies in branch accounts found by POL audit
in McColls
since 1999?
Stores
i ) How many shortfalls discovered by POL audit in branch accounts at McColls
have been in excess of £1,000 since the rol out of Horizon in 1999?
36
24/08/2020
i) Please can you release al versions of POL Audit, Risk and Compliance
Committee Terms of Reference since April 1st 2012 including dates of when each
version was in use.
Freedom of
Information
14
request - POL
i ) Please can you release Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee (or equivalent)
Audit, Risk and
Terms of Reference from the period prior to POL’s split from Royal Mail. Please
Compliance
include all versions implemented since 1995 when Post Office Limited (then Post
Committee
Office Counters) was operated as a subsidiary of The Post Office, and
Terms of
subsequently as a subsidiary of Consignia and Royal Mail Holdings.
Reference
37
24/08/2020
i ) Is Post Office’s Historical Shortfall Scheme open to sub-postmasters who
operated or continue to operate Post Office branches in WH Smith, Coop, Tesco,
Londis, Budgens, Premier or Bargain Booze?
Freedom of
Information
request - Post
i ) How many applicants have been turned away from the Historical Shortfal
Office Limited’s
Scheme on account of them working or having worked at a post office branch
Historical
located in a McCol s store?
Shortfall
Scheme
38
24/08/2020
Reference was made in the Horizon Issues Judgement of December 2019 to
Management Letters from Ernst and Young. The earliest to be cited is that of 2011
which states:
Freedom of
Information
‘Within the IT environment our audit work has AGAIN identified weaknesses
request - Ernst
mainly relating to the control environment operated by POL’s third party IT
and Young
suppliers’ [emphasis added], (p101, para 394):
Management
Letters up to
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/iBp0CngDltlWwqrs9KsKX?domain=judiciary.uk
2011
i) Please can you confirm how many previous Ernst and Young Management
Letters highlighted weaknesses in POL’s IT control environment including
unaudited Privileged User Access at POL’s third party IT suppliers?
i ) What is the date of the earliest Ernst and Young audit to raise such concerns?
iii) To which individuals and/or committees were these Ernst and Young
Management Letters circulated?
39
24/08/2020
The Horizon Issues Judgement of December 2019 refers to a POL Risk
Compliance Committee meeting of 18th September 2013 which noted some of the
risks highlighted by the recent Ernst and Young audit as having been addressed
Freedom of
(p247, para 791):
Information
request - Post
https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/iBp0CngDltlWwqrs9KsKX?domain=judiciary.uk
Office response
to Ernst and
i) Please can you identify who was present at this meeting and release its
Young audit
minutes?
2013
i )) Please can you release the names of attendees and minutes of the
contemporaneous 2013 POL Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee meeting in
which the findings of the same recent Ernst and Young audit were considered?
15
