POL00258205
POL00258205
Ce:
Subject:
Yes, thank you. Slightly odd for a senior lawyer to ask the % question.
Mark
Mark Underwood
Head of Portfolio: Legal, Risk & Governance
From: Angela Van-Den-Bogerd ;__
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2018
To: Jane MacLeod; Mark Underwoodi:; Rodric Williams; Patrick Bourke; Andrew Parsons
Ce: Mark R Davies
Subject: RE: Postmaster Litigation - UKGI Briefing
Hi Jane
Thanks for the update. I’m glad it went well.
See you tomorrow.
Angela
Angela Van Den Bogerd
Business Improvement Director
1* Floor,Ty Brwydran,
Atlantic Close, Llansamlet
Swansea SA7 9FJ
00
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From: Jane MacLeod
POL00258205
POL00258205
Sent: 17 October 2018 18:09
To: Mark Und:
Patrick Bourke!
Den-Bogerd
Ce: Mark R Davies
Subject: Postmaster Litigation - UKGI Briefing
Angela Van-
All
The briefing went well this afternoon, and there were no particularly difficult questions. Paula introduced,
emphasising that while there were difficult individual cases with which we have some sympathy, overall we
have a diligent responsible network.
They were interested (at a high level) at what we were doing around contingency planning, and our assessment
of what a worst case could look like. They stressed multiple times that BEIS/UKGI have not provisioned for
any financial support that POL might require. They noted my guesstimate that a minimum settlement would
be at least £30m and I explained that this was a guess based on Therium being likely to want a ROI of 3 x fees
paid.
There was a brief discussion on the possible outcomes, they noted the advice that we were unlikely to win on
all heads, and have asked for a copy of the Merits Opinions to be provided to the BEIS & UKGI lawyers. I
met the BEIS lawyer -Gareth Evans, Deputy Director, BEIS Legal Advisors, (none of us warmed to him and
he pretty much blanked me in the meeting) who asked if the QCs had put a % on the likelihood of winning. I
said given the complexity and interplay of issues and the number of possible outcomes, I thought it impossible
and meaningless to do this.
They will want to keep a close eye on us, and that will in all likelihood mean frequent briefings. We will need
to consider how we (me) does this.
There was then a conversation on Comms handling - mainly for the Minister; and we then segued into the
Banking framework for 15 mins, finishing with an update on the cabinet paper which Paula and Al think they
will be able to get to Tom C shortly (Patrick?)
Mark D - anything else to add?
So many thanks everyone for the effort that went into producing the briefing pack last week (which I could
see that both the Minster and Perm Sec had in the packs, and had read at least in part).
Now - back to the litigation!
See you tomorrow,
Jane
Jane MacLeod
Group Director Legal, Risk & Governance
Post Office