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Monthly Monitoring Meeting Readout
11 November 2023
Attendees
¢ Carl Creswell (CC) — Director, Business Resilience, DBT
e Simon Recaldin (SR) — Director, Remediation Unit, POL
Post Office
¢ Catherine Connolly (CCo)
Evelyn Hocking (EH)
Jamie Tebbutt (JT)
Ken Kyriacou (KK)
Matthew Hilton (MH)
Neil McDaid (NM)
Pamela Heap (PH)
Paul Murray (PM)
Sarah Lambert (SL)
Victor Turner (VT)
Steve Barlow (SB)
David Firth (DF)
Richard Paddington (RP)
Andrew Mortimer (AM)
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James Gourlay (JG)
Sisi Zhang (SZ)
Dom Elvin (DE)
DBT
Beth White (BW)
Ciara Lawrence (CL)
Eleri Wones (EW)
Harry Fallowfield (HF)
Foysul Hoque (FH)
Paul Harding (PH)
oc
1. PFA diversity work
KK mentioned that the information POL currently holds cannot be used for analysis on how
the convictions have been made across various ethnic groups. POL hold some information
on nationality but not specifically on ethnic background. KK added that requesting this
information from the population now will pose some difficulties. KK mentioned that
UKGI/DBT would take POL’s advice and available details to discuss internally about steps
that could be taken to address this issue.
SR added that a legitimate reason must be established before writing out to the population
to request for this personal information.
2. Pecuniary Principles and Independent Assessor
SR said that the Pecuniary Principles and the Independent Assessor (IA) were passed
through the Board and felt confident in the governance process they went through before
being formed.
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SR said POL are in the process of formally appointing Sir Gary as the IA. CL suggested
linking up with POL on comms messaging around Sir Gary’s appointment.
NM mentioned that POL are working with claimant representatives to develop a transparent
methodology to agree legal fee costs so that more interim payments could be paid. ES
mentioned that DBT are also putting together options on how best to settle
legal/professional fees. CC added that the Minister expressed strong views about resolving
any potential barriers quickly.
3. Advance disclosures and SFA
SB said transparent pack will be going out to Hudgells to illustrate the complexities of the
process and the types of data that it involves. It was agreed that a 14 point list of
items/documents that POL will proactively disclose e.g. business reports and plans and
other specific requests will be managed case by case.
SB added that on occasions where POL’s offer is less than the claimed amount, POL will
make greater use of the arch data (more detailed) to ensure everything is covered. Next
steps are to work with POL Legal to work through the files and obtain all 14 documents for
each claimant and get all fully particularised claims completed by Christmas.
HSS
4. Outstanding HSS payments
Outstanding HSS payments are down to two cases. One will be issued on 9 November and
the other is a very complex case and POL are pushing for a resolution. Other cohorts are
progressing well, disputes aside which are more complex. In due course dissolved and
liquidated companies will be processed.
5. Tax to-ups
Paul Murry (PM) is working on these, there has been a soft launch and recently a full
launch, both went well. 200 letters have been prepared to date. Of the first 50, 15 have
accepted their offers. PM is hopeful that these letters will help individuals accept
settlements now that much more of the total financial settlement is available to them.
All letters are scheduled to go out by the end of March 2024 and PM is hopeful-this can be
brought forward as there is an agreed aspiration to speed up the process.
SR asked about the HSS closure. The Advisory Board did not agree to the proposed date
(Sept 2024) and favoured keeping the scheme open longer. Minister Hollinrake is not in
agreement with them and wants an end date and an announcement is due imminently.
We've had approval from Minister Hollinrake on Sept 2024. It was agreed that we need to
work on the communications regarding this — can we combine it with any other
announcements? We can then look to contact the advisory board to inform them of the
plan going forward.
KK and Catherine Connolly are both working on a communications plan.
Pamela Heap (PH) is pleased that an extension to the tax top scheme is happening, her
team are still prioritising tax top ups and interim payments to help close cases.
6. Appeals Mechanism
Sir Ross Cranston advised the Advisory Board that they do not need a deep study into HSS
and that they should agree to appoint a reviewer of the HSS Scheme on the same or
similar terms to OC (this could be the same reviewer).
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7. AOB
SR asked about Compensation for those employed without a contract. 36 individuals have
been identified, nine of whom have agreed privately a settlement with their former SPM.
Beth White (BW) agreed to consider an approach from a DBT perspective.