Archives :
Compensation
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Post Office misleads public inquiry over compensation
The Post Office Chief Executive has admitted withholding important information from the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. The revelation came right at the beginning of the second day of Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read’s testimony to the Inquiry, but related to a comment he made on the first. On Wednesday Read had told Jason…
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Majority of Subpostmasters still getting unexplained Horizon discrepancies
A majority of serving Subpostmasters have told the public inquiry into the Post Office scandal that they are still getting unexplained discrepancies generated by the Post Office’s Horizon IT system. Over the last twelve months, 57% of Subpostmasters told a wide-ranging independent survey that they have recorded unexplained discrepancies in their accounts. A whopping 92%…
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Post Office CEO Nick Read announces his departure
Nick Read, the Post Office Chief Executive, is standing down at the end of March next year. In an email to Subpostmasters (first picked by the ever-vigilant Sky News City Editor, Mark Kleinman) Read wrote: “it has been a privilege to work with you during what has been a challenging and difficult time for the…
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Horizon Compensation board Chair calls for Standing Compensation Authority
The Chair of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, Professor Chris Hodges, has called for the formation of a new compensation authority, with the statutory power to assess, decide and deliver compensation for victims of scandals. In a paper recently published on the HCAB section of the government’s website, Professor Hodges believes there is a need…
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Asleep at the Neil
Neil McCausland was a non-executive director (NED) at the Post Office. In fact, he was the Senior Independent Director (SID), responsible during board meetings for robust examination of the executive’s actions and responsible outside board meetings for doing his research, marshalling the opinions of the other NEDs and communicating them to the Chair and executive…
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The Wine Gums vs The Blob
Putting together a list of Postal Affairs ministers a few years back I was reminded of a graffito written shortly after the 33 day papacy of John Paul I, which asked: “What lasts longer, a pope or a wine gum?” It seemed apt. At a time when ministers should have been getting a solid grip…
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A Trip down Misery Lane: Surviving the Post Office on BBC1
Surviving the Post Office (co-produced and co-directed by Hayley Hassall, who has previously reported on the story) has something of the travelogue about it. Will Mellor, who played former Subpostmaster Lee Castleton in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, presents. Mellor calls his role in the ITV drama “more important than any…
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Alan Bates threatens legal action against the government
Alan Bates has threatened “possible legal action” against the government for their perceived foot-dragging over financial redress for 555 Subpostmasters who joined him in the Bates v Post Office group litigation order (GLO) High Court case. Most of the 555 qualify for the government’s special GLO compensation scheme*, announced in 2022 and initially designed to…
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Chris’s Compensation Solutions
After yesterday’s parliamentary debate on Postmaster Compensation, former Subpostmaster Chris Head came up with his solutions for sorting everything out in a timely manner. Chris is a member of the Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme, announced in 2022, by the (then) Postal Affairs Minister Paul Scully. For the last four years, however, Chris has been…
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Staunton shoots back
On 18 Feb, the Sunday Times published this extraordinary interview with Henry Staunton, the sacked chair of the Post Office. Staunton said there was a “toxic” culture within the Post Office, alleged that the government had told him to go slow on compensation payments and that the Post Office CEO had written to the Business…