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ITo: Minister Hollinrake From: Misbah Ghaffar
ISCS: Carl Creswell Director!
David Bickerton
Date: 29/04/2024
Briefing for Minister Hollinrake’s Monthly Meeting with POL’s CEO, Nick Read
30 April, 10:00 to 10:30, Virtual Only
Background
e This is your monthly meeting with Nick Read, CEO of Post Office Limited (POL).
You last met him on 28 March.
Objectives
e To discuss Post Office’s key issues with Nick Read. These are outlined in the
agenda.
Steering Brief
e Agenda:
1. Post Office Ltd's Central Costs
2. Compensation Update
3. AOB
e Key Attendees:
POL Attendees DBT Officials UKGI Officials
Nick Read, CEO Carl Creswell, Director Lorna Gratton, UKGI
Business Resilience Director
Kathryn Sherratt, Asha Balachandran,
Finance Director Senior Policy Advisor
Speaking Points
1. Post Office Ltd's Central Costs
e UKGI and DBT officials have continued to engage with POL
ailable to reduce these over the longer-term I
The company’s interim CFO understands your views on the topic and we
L will present a brief slide deck during the meeting, outlining the potential
areas which could contribute to reductions in the central cost base in the current
financial year.
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2. Compensation Update
e The Bill to overturn convictions is progressing through Parliament at pace, though we
still expect to open the scheme in July. You can say that you are grateful to the Post
Office team for working with DBT officials to prepare disclosure of key documents to
postmasters who will bring claims under the new scheme.
e We are working through what a HSS appeals process would look like and hope to
make an announcement in the coming weeks. We are working closely with the Post
Office to prepare to implement the £75k fixed sum award on HSS.
e You may wish to say that you have been engaging with the Advisory Board and Sir
Gary Hickinbottom and are keen for active case management, to get claims into the
schemes and offers out as soon as possible. It would be helpful if you could underline
to Nick Read that it would be useful if the Post Office could set a turnaround time
between claims being received and offers being made (as DBT has on the GLO).
3. AOB
Interim Chair Role
e Ona private basis, note that you are pleased that Nigel Railton has accepted the role of
interim chair of the POL Board and you are looking forward to seeing how he settles
into the role and tackles the problems at hand. We expect the announcement to take
place on Wednesday morning.
e Observe that it will be essential for the Board and executive to work collaboratively and
openly with Mr Railton to establish a shared vision for the company’s future.
* Note that you and/or SoS hope to meet Mr Railton regularly to understand his progress
and where the department can lend him support. You may wish to ask Mr Read for
his reflections on Mr Railton’s appointment and any joint priorities.
e Background: Nigel Railton accepted the role of interim chair following a conversation
with SoS last week. SoS has previously provided Mr Railton with her priorities for Post
Office which include (i) intensifying existing workstreams to address POL’s historic
failures, (ii) supporting cultural transformation and improving POL’s capacity, capability,
and resilience at all levels, and (iii) enabling the future success of POL, including
through effective financial management and delivery of NBIT. As part of his role, Mr
Railton will also provide his views on the future direction of the Company. Mr Railton’s
appointment will formally begin once the appropriate checks (such as a HMRC Fit and
Proper test) are complete.
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