UKGI00005297
UKGI00005297
Post Office Meeting — Tuesday 4 August 2015
Present:
Baroness Neville-Rolfe — Minister for Intellectual Property
Salma Shah — Special Advisor to the Secretary of State
Nick King — Special Advisor to the Secretary of State
Patrick Kilgarriff — BIS Legal
Anthony Odgers — Shareholder Executive
Richard Callard — Shareholder Executive
Laura Thompson — Shareholder Executive
Ashley Rogers — BIS Press Office
Claire French — BIS Press Office
Harriet Smith — Senior Private Secretary
Andrew Smith — Private Secretary
Officials outlined the background to the issues raised by MPs and Second Sight in relation to the
Horizon IT system, the prior prosecution and conviction of some sub postmasters, and the mediation
scheme established to resolved differences which now appears to have stalled.
There was a discussion about these points which focused on how things could now be moved
forward especially with regards to the approximate 80 cases which are yet to go to mediation. There
was also discussion about how Post Office might be encouraged to increase its engagement with
those who are yet to go to mediation.
Thought also needed to be given about the public messaging and updating No10 so they are fully
sighted on the current issues.
The actions from the meeting were as follows:
1) Officials from the Shareholder Executive to draft a briefing note for No10 and other
Departments which covers the current position.
2) Baroness Neville-Rolfe to speak with incoming Post Office Limited Chairman Tim Parker, to
encourage him to take a fresh look at these issues and engage with those who are still
raising concerns.
3) Officials from the Shareholder Executive to draft a letter to Andrew Bridgen and Kevan Jones
which points to the current direction of travel.
4) Officials from the Shareholder Executive to provide annotated agenda for meeting with
Paula Vennells which encourages Post Office to engage further with sub postmasters about
the value of the mediation process.