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Message
From: Tom Wechsler!
on behalf of — Tom Wechsler} G RO
Sent: 29/04/2016 08
To: Paula Vennells:
Subject: Feedback from
Hi
As discussed Patrick has sent the note below on feedback from the Tim / BNR meeting based on a call with
Laura who also attended:
1. Very amicable meeting, good atmospherics.
2. Tim chatted through the work being undertaken as part of his review (essentially providing a
precis of the contents of his 4/3 letter to her) — his broad observations were that he felt that the non-
Horizon strands of enquiry (essentially on prosecutions process and policy) would be answered shortly
and that there wasn’t currently any reason to think that the findings here would be problematic; on the
work being undertaken by Deloitte, the work was more technically difficult and time consuming but he
still hoped that he would have answers come the end of May, although (helpfully) he couldn’t discount
some slippage into June. He said he felt that, while it was unlikely that we would ever get to a point of
100% certainty (these exercises just can’t achieve that), it will have been important work to have done to
build confidence.
3. They then touched on the CCRC, agreeing that it was, frankly, anyone’s guess when they might
begin to report on their findings — the PO continued to co-operate fully with those undertaking the work.
4. Turning to the litigation, Tim was able to provide some limited further detail to BNR, for instance
that 75% of the claimants were known to us from the Scheme and so we have some visibility around the
likely basis/strengths of those individuals’ cases; that a handful of claimants had, in fact, reached full
and final settlements with the PO already, so it was hard to see that they could form part of any group
which does, in fact, start proceedings proper etc. However, he stressed that until such time as we saw the
detail of the particulars of claim, he was unable to tell her much more, which she appears to have readily
accepted.
5. He hinted at the fact that the ongoing work of the CCRC and the litigation could well have an
impact on what it might be prudent to say at the end of his review, and that we would need to revisit this
at the appropriate juncture. After the meeting, he spoke briefly to Laura and Richard, who told him that
at some point, the Minister might be accosted by Lord Arbuthnot and feel she had to give him
‘something’ given that he is a Lords and party colleague. We’ll cross that bridge if, and when, we come
to it.
6. They then spoke about non Sparrow PO issues, which we didn’t discuss.
All in all it sounds as though the meeting did what it needed to in ensuring the Minister feels she is being kept
informed and engaged (and, at a future date, can say she’s been active on this if asked, eg in Parliament), while
ensuring we preserve the necessary confidentiality to protect our legal position.
In addition, I have spoken to Laura who gave me the following additional feedback:
Funding — in the context of the discussions we’ll be having soon about funding for 2018 onwards,
the Minister flagged the difficult fiscal position and the need to make sure POL was continuing to
reduce its reliance on taxpayer subsidy.
Appointments — Tim explained why NomCo are recommending Tim Franklin’s reappointment.
The Minister said she would consider it when it came to her. (Separately Laura gave Tim a flavour of
the hoops we have to go through on appointments, so he is a bit more aware of how long the process can
take)
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Supply chain — a very brief discussion about the upcoming plans. Timing wasn’t mentioned.
Royal Mail — Tim mentioned that he was meeting the RM Chair shortly. The Minister said she
had met Moya Greene recently (in her role as Minister for postal affairs) and Moya had been
complimentary about the Post Office. Tim noted that it would be important to negotiate a good long
term agreement with RM.
Annual Report — Tim told the Minister he had suggested some changes to the Annual Report. The
Minister thought the approach he proposed seemed sensible.
Tom
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