POL00103192
POL00103192
Message
From: Jane Macleod i
on behalf of Jane MacLeod G RO j
Sent: 16/05/2016 ” ~
To: Tim Parker} 4
Subject: RE: Post Office - Chairman's review CONFIDENTIAL AND LEGALLY PRIVILEGED
Attachments: Summary J - Status Report J Swift recommendations 16-5-2016.docx
Tim
l understand the frustration that you (and others) feel as to how long these steps are taking to complete. Unfortunately
these are not straightforward issues and need to be carefully scoped to ensure that, in light of all the developments, the
output is worth having.
Attached are Jonathan’s original recommendations where he believed that further work should be undertaken, together
with a summary of the current status of that work and expected timeframe for completion. As you will see all of these
are underway, however, particularly in the case of recommendation 2, there are a significant number of documents to
be reviewed (estimated as more than 3000 in one case}, and this, combined with issues around Brian’s availability, mean
this second phase has not progressed as expeditiously as we had hoped.
in light of the fact that proceedings have now been filed in Court, we have asked Jonathan to provide advice to you in
your capacity as Chairman of Post Office, as to the extent to which completing this work, or indeed undertaking further
work is appropriate in all the circumstances..
We expect that this advice will be available shortly, and I will keep you informed as to the outcome.
Kind regards,
Jane
® Jane MacLeod
General Counset
Ground Floor
20 Finsbury Street
LONDON
EC2Y 9AQ
From: Tim Parker
Sent: 14 May 2016 10:16
To: Jane MacLeod
Subject: Re: Post Office - Chairman's review
Thank you Jane. I think there will soon be frustration at the time this is taking (indeed I am also beginning to
get somewhat frustrated) So what is now the projected timetable for completion on the components of the action
list?
Best
Tim
Tim Parker
POL-0102775
POL00103192
POL00103192
Chairman
National Trust
20 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH
Chairman
Post Office Limited
Chairman
Samsonite International SA
Westerring 17, B-9700 Oudenaarde, Belgium
Dear Tim
Here is my regular fortnightly update on the progress of your review and the litigation.
Review
— Helpline - In relation to the allegation that our Helpline may have provided incorrect advice to subpostmasters
which resulted in a loss to the accounts, Bond Dickinson (the external firm conducting the work) has now
completed its investigations. Although some investigations were limited because certain records are no longer
available and there were inaccuracies in the information provided by complainants, their draft report reveals
that there is no evidence to support the allegations that have been made. We are currently reviewing the report
ahead of sharing it with Jonathan Swift to seek his view as to whether it sufficiently discharges his
recommendation in this area, but we are confident that it should.
@ Horizon System — We have had further meetings with Deloitte in relation to the extent of the work necessary to
discharge Jonathan’s 3 recommendations on the testing of Horizon, and they have begun work on the
substantive phase of that work. It is, by its nature, an iterative process in that, dependent on early results,
further decisions then need to be made on whether or not to explore further. To assist us in this process, I have
asked the new Chief Information Officer, Rob Houghton, to review the process undertaken by Deloitte, to sense-
check these further decisions. Our next meeting with Deloitte takes place on 20 May.
@ Suspense Accounts — You will recall that Deloitte are also conducting the work, into the existence and nature of
the relationship between POL’s suspense accounts and specific branch accounts over the relevant period. This a
materially different exercise to the IT testing, and I understand that most of the relevant accounting processes
were/are based paper records and manual reconciliations. We will shortly be having a specific meeting with
Deloitte to discuss their progress on this and will be keeping Al Cameron briefed on those discussions.
POL-0102775
POL00103192
POL00103192
* — Prosecution Practice — Jonathan Swift has confirmed that Brian Altman QC can limit his initial review to those 19
cases presenting the specific features of double charges in question, and decide on the basis of those findings
whether to extend the exercise. That work is ongoing.
Litigation
As I indicated in my last update, we are in the process of preparing a short paper for the May Board which will include,
at a high level, a summary of the legal claim, the likely timescales, and our initial approach for its management. I have
briefed the GE today on these matters.
As ever, should you have any questions, do give me a call.
Kind regards,
Jane
Jane MacLeod
General Counset
Ground Floor
20 Finsbury Street
LONDON
9aQ
Mobile number
POL-0102775