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Monthly Monitoring Meeting — Overturned Convictions and Horizon Shortfall Scheme
Attendees:
1 August 2024
[Department for Business
land Trade
Post Office Ltd
(Ciara Lawrence (CL)
Ellen Wasden (EW)
IMick Carling (MC)
Katie Carr (KC)
[Richard Howard (RH)
IRoss Fielding (RF)
IEleri Wones (EW)
Liam Butler (LB)
[Harry Fallowfield (HF)
IBeth White (BW)
Ellen Wasden (EW)
[Andrew Mortimer (AM)
(Catherine Connolly (CCo)
(Caroline Whitehall (CW)
David Firth (DF)
Evelyn Hocking (EH)
George Day (GD)
Jamie Tebbutt (JT)
Ken Kyriacou (KK)
Madeleine De Matteis (MM)
[Matthew Nelson Hilton (MNH)
Mark Durrans (MD)
INeil McDaid (NMc)
INeil Davey (ND)
INigel Machin (NM)
INicola Munden (NMu)
[Pam Heap (PR)
[Paul Murray (PM)
Richard Paddington (RP)
‘Sarah Lambert (SL)
[Simon Recaldin (SR)
Susan Sannachan (SS)
Overturned Convictions
Item 1: HCRS Launch
- The HCRS was launched Tuesday 30 July 2024 and received 183 registrations on
the first day. Of these, 176 were from Hudgell and 7 were self-identified, with 6 of
the latter lacking legal representation. An additional five registrations have been
received since the initial count. Special efforts are being made to ensure that
claimants’ questions are answered promptly.
- MoJ have been effectively supporting DBT well and is now coordinating with the
Northern Ireland Department of Justice and the Scottish Government, who have
provided information on identified individuals.
- POL inquired about the protocol if there is evidence of an offense but no evidence
of an actual conviction. MC responded that they would refer back to the written court
records for the most accurate information. If no evidence is available, MC will
investigate this part of the process further. POL highlighted that they have
previously encountered these issues and stressed the importance of resolving them
to prevent future complications.
- NMc congratulated the team on the launch and confirmed that the 30K + VAT fee is
fixed. MC explained that for those accepting the £600K fixed amount, DBT will not
cover disbursements. For claims exceeding £2.5m, solicitors can request a fully
assessed costs evaluation. POL is available to assist.
- To align with HCRS, the OC interim payment has increased from £163K to £200K.
Letters will be sent out to inform recipients of the adjustment.
Item 2: OC Case Progression
- Since the last meeting, 7 more claims have been settled, reaching the 50%
milestone. Additionally, 2 new claims have been received, including a joint OC-GLO
claim. Sightings meetings have been held and found useful.
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HSF are ‘drafting a ietter
‘but will review with DBT before it is issued. Careful communication is necessary for
high-profile reassessed claims.
POL is currently: Legal Privilege
; Legal Privilege -
ase y Management “meetings with Sir Gary are proceeding ‘for C
POL will report back on these meetings.
Item 3: Post Office Spending Forecast
RH discussed the new forecasting process implemented a few months ago,
emphasising the importance of POL providing accurate and timely data. POL
acknowledged the challenges in forecasting but recognises the need for accuracy.
RH highlighted the importance of maintaining good relationships with HMT and their
request for monthly forecasts. Accurate forecasts are essential to ensure DBT
secures the necessary funds, avoiding under or overbidding that could lead to
departmental fines or loss of credibility. RH suggested that POL and DBT review
forecasts together a week before tender submissions.
Item 4: AOB
Articles of Association
POL thanked DBT for the previous approval received.
Pensions of Head of Loss
POL stressed the need for a consistent approach across GLO, HCRS and OC, based on
analysis conducted by the POL team. CL will discuss this further with POL in a subsequent
meeting.
Supporting the Inquiry
POL expressed their willingness to assist with the inquiry, noting that there is
significant activity in this area.
The inquiry will commence 23 September. The running order is currently unknown
POL will update DBT once more information is known.
Horizon Shortfall Scheme
Item 1: Spending Forecast
Attendees discussed subsidy control implications for interventions made on the HSS.
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ND and RH agreed to discuss what else Post Office needed from DBT in terms of funding
commitment. ND and CW suggested that a Post Office/DBT workgroup group was formed
to ensure a decision could be reached quickly.
Item 2: Late applications case progression
SR highlighted that Post Office were taking the fixed back letter to HMC on 06 August. In
regard to the fixed forward work, KK highlighted that there were 300 claimants who have an
offer which they had not yet accepted — and this cohort would need to be informed that
their offer will be increased in value to £75,000. KK explained that the next step after that
would be to write out to other postmasters inviting them into the scheme and it was
important to finalise what would be included in that letter — and whether any comment
would be made around a scheme closure date.
In terms of a general update on late applications, KK highlighted that applications were still
being received, but at a much-reduced rate. Post Office’s focus of late has been on
conducting eligibility checks, with HSF/POL conducting 50/60 checks a week (a significant
increase in volume). The next focus will be on RFI’s, as 660 cases were either in a position
where they require one or have not returned one that has been issued (260 are yet to
revert with a response). KK flagged that there was a bottleneck in terms of panel availability
in August, but this should be resolved in September. Post Office would also be conducting
a larger exercise on how it could speed up full assessment automation, especially given
that there was likely to be another influx of cases once Post Office had completed the final
write-out.
SR highlighted that HSF were increasing their resource to deal with inflow but Post Office
were assessing how much HSF resource was needed to ensure there was no wastage. A
plan was being developed to ensure this.
Item 3: DRP update
SL highlighted that Post Office had created a spreadsheet with all of the cases represented
by Hudgell Solicitor, categorising where they are at in the process. This will be shared with
Neil Hudgell prior to a meeting where Post Office/Hudgell will discuss progress on his cases
and agree a route forward for those where progress had halted. Post Office would then be
able to work with HSF to understand how many panels reflows were required, and it would
also be able to understand how many cases were likely to go to mediation (and whether
anything could be done to resolve the case prior to that - saving money in the process).
Item 4: AOB
HSS end date progress
SR queried what needed to be done to finalise the question around a HSS closure date. HF
confirmed that this was with DBT unless Post Office’s position had changed — DBT were
working towards a closure date of March 2025, although this would need to be
reconsidered if this could not be announced soon. Ideally news on the closure date would
be combined with the final mailout to potential claimants. DBT were working to get Minister
Thomas signed up to a March 2025 date this month and once confirmed, DBT would revert
to Post Office on this. SR thanked HF for the update, noting that if letters were to go out
e.g. in November, it may be seen as aggressive to close the scheme three/four months
later.
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Appeal process progress
HF explained that Minister Thomas had confirmed content with the idea of an appeals
process and that advice was now will the Secretary of State for consideration. The next
step following SoS consideration would be to submit a funding request to HMT. This would
be submitted in August although it was expected that the decision would take some time
given wider budgetary concerns. Ideally DBT was looking to announce it prior to the next
phase of Inquiry hearings. HF explained that there were design questions that would need
to be worked out between DBT and Post Office, but the initial announcement would only
refer to the fact that DBT is looking to introduce this process, with wider questions to be
ironed out in the coming months.
KK noted that this could potentially tie in with the announcement of the closure date with
SR noting that this would be very neat.
CW queried what the eligibility criteria for an appeals process would be. HF highlighted that
the process would be loosely based on that used for the GLO scheme, but no specific
advice on eligibility had been provided to the minister as of yet. HF noted however that the
DBT Policy team envisaged that it would be targeted at claimants who felt unable to set out
their claim fully the first time around. With that in mind, there was a question as to whether
claimants who had been through the DRP would be eligible. Beyond this, eligibility criteria
was TBD.
CW thanked HF and highlighted that Post Office were keen to support where possible.
£50k minimum payment for declined offers £75k offers
SR also highlighted that there was also a question around the £50,000 minimum payment
for those who choose to go down the full assessment route but receive a Panel-reviewed
offer of <£50,000, and how this was communicated.
HF highlighted that DBT/POL would need further discussions on the £50,000 but it was
Minister Thomas’ preference that this was in place. KK highlighted that it was important to
clarify at what point in the process it is evident as an option. HF and KK agreed to pick up
separately along with work on the application form as part of the wider comms piece.
Paul Marshall cases, including a non-Horizon case
SR explained that he was engaged with this and was working colleagues to revert to Paul
Marshall on Monday 5" August.
Strategic Partner Claims
SR highlighted that he was aware that DBT/Post Office were engaged on this but queried
next steps. CW highlighted that Nigel Machin was to revert imminently to DBT on the
questions it had asked.