POL00105466
POL00105466
From: The Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot, M.P.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SW1A 0AA
1 May 2014
POST OFFICE LT_
Paula Vennells
Chief Executive
Post Office
1* Floor
148 Old Street
London EC1V 9HQ
Qeeem Poke
Thank you for your letter of 11 April and now it is my turn to apologise for the fact this
response comes to you rather late due to Parliamentary Recess.
02 MAY 20%
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S OF F'2E
May I make two points in response to your letter? The first is that whilst I appreciate that an
interim report is slightly disruptive of the Mediation Scheme’s progress, I am not so sure
that preliminary findings cannot be shared in a manner that respects the Scheme’s integrity.
Given that the investigators were issuing the Post Office with a report in late March, ‘surely
by now they have been able to draw some conclusions about the cases before them. Doing
so would not intrude on the confidentiality of any individual case. And would it not be fair to
share these, given that the group of MPs whose constituents have been affected have been
partially (with the Post Office and the JSFA) responsible for getting these investigations
underway? Second, if a July meeting is unimaginable, can you offer me a date when a
further meeting will be considered, please?
I understand all the points that you make and have some sympathy with the position you
adopt. However, I am anxious that the longer the silence, the more concerned MPs will get.
This relates not just to their own constituency cases but to the processes which had been
followed at the Post Office which led to so many individuals coming forward. This entire
matter has the potential to run away from our control, something neither you nor I want to
see happen. In short, I am slightly worried.
I wonder if you might let me have your thoughts please? In order to dampen expectations
about a July meeting, I would like to circulate your letter of 11 April to those MPs involved,
but I feel I should give you an opportunity to think these points through before I do so.
Website: www.jamesarbuthnot.com
POL00105466
POL00105466