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UKG100008128
From: Rodric Williams.
Sent: Thur 17/05/2018 09 PM (UTC)
To: Lambert, Helen - UKGII
Ce: O'Neil i:
Cooper, i
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Attachment: UKGI Briefing (RW 14.05.17).docx
Thanks Helen.
In terms of timing, I aim to have the Protocol over to you tomorrow.
In terms of reporting, I have already provided to you the report sent on 14 May 2018. I appreciate that it needs
updating in light of the matters discussed at this week’s Board Subcommittee meeting. Those matters are however
new (but not urgent), lengthy and complex and so will take a little time to work through. I do not therefore anticipate
being able to provide an updated report until next week, which timing is consistent with the Protocol which provides
for reports to be sent following meetings of the full Board, the next one being held on Thursday 24 May.
I will however endeavour to provide the updated report before that date given that the Board discussion is likely to
reflect that of the Subcommittee, but also bearing in mind that this is additional reporting which has to be worked in
and around our primary obligations to Post Office Limited.
Kind regards, Rodric
From: Lambert, Helen - UKGI [mailt:
Sent: 16 May 2018 17:30
To: Rodric Williams <!
Cc: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI >; Clarke, Stephen - UKGI
Callard, Richard - UKGI <_ Cooper, Tom - UKGI <
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Hi Rodric
Many thanks for your time on the call yesterday. I believe we agreed you would send us: (i) an updated summary of
the litigation, in light of the most recent sub-committee meetings, and (ii) an updated litigation protocol,
incorporating the amendments discussed on our call.
Would you be able to advise us on the timeframe in which you intend to provide these documents? If we might, could
we ask you to prioritise item (i) as this is instrumental to our being able to report to Alex as requested.
Many thanks
Helen
Helen Lambert I Legal Secondee
UK Government Investments
1 Victoria Street I London I SW1H OET
From: Rodric Williams [mailto:
UKG100008128
UKG100008128
Sent: 15 May 2018 17:24
To: Bannan, Jane - UKGI ¢
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKGI <
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI <
Thanks ~ received with thanks and am now on the call.
From: Bannan, Jane - UKGI [mailt
Sent: 15 May 2018 15:29
To: Rodric Williams
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKGI ¢
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps -
b>; O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Hi Rodric,
Apologies if my email did not get through to you. Please see below:
Leader Pin (Elizabeth’
Conference code
Jane Bannan I PA to Justin Manson & Candida Morley, Directors I Rachel Mortimer, Chief Operating Officer I Hannah
Gray & Elizabeth O'Neill, Executive Directors I Robin Lawther, Non Executive Director
UK Government Investments
1 Victoria Street I London I SW1H OET
> www.ukgi.gov.uk
From: Rodric Williams [mailto
Sent: Tuesday, 15 May 2018 1
To: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI ¢"
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKGI < annan, Jane - UKGI ¢_
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Hi Jane — do you have the dial in details?
From: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI [mailt
Sent: 15 May 2018 14:36
To: Rodric Williams
Cc: Lambert, Helen
Richard - UKGI <~
Rodric,
Jane (cced) will shortly send you the details
Elizabeth
From: Rodric Williams [mailto:
Sent: 15 May 2018 10:15
To: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI <
UKG100008128
UKG100008128
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKGI <
Richard - UKGI
UKGI
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
>; Callard,
; Clarke, Stephen -
>; Jane MacLeod <_
; Cooper, Tom - UKGI <_
Thanks Elizabeth — 3:30pm works for me. What is the best number for me to call you on?
Kind regards, Rodric
From: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI [mailto}.
Sent: 15 May 2018 09:11
To: Rodric Williams <"
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKG
Richard - UKGI
~ bs Callard,
; Cooper, Tom - UKGI < >; Clarke, Stephen -
‘ Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Thanks you Rodric, noted. Are you available for a call at 3.30 pm this afternoon?
Best
Elizabeth
From: Rodric Williams [mailto.
Sent: 14 May 2018 20:20
To: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKGI <
; Jane MacLeod
Cooper, Tom - UKGI
>; Callard,
Clarke, Stephen -
P
itigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Elizabeth,
Thank you for your email below. We are not I believe that far apart on the Protocol. Post Office understands and will
support the need to provide written updates on the Group Litigation, and we trust you understand our need for
appropriate controls to be put in place around the provision of information, public disclosure of which could be
extremely harmful to Post Office’s defence and management of the Group Litigation.
With that in mind, I am happy to meet to finalise the Protocol, but also believe we could deal with this over the phone
if you and/or Helen would like to give me a call. Please let me know when it would be most convenient for us to meet
or speak.
In terms of the briefing note, I attach our proposed note. I am happy to respond to any comments you may have on it,
either as part of our discussion on the protocol, or separately.
Kind regards, Rodric
Rodric Williams
Head of Legal - Dispute Resolution & Brand
20 Finsbury Street
2017 Winner of the Global
Postal Award for Customer
Experience
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From: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI [mailt
Sent: 11 May 2018 11:43
To: Rodric Williams <
Cc: Lambert, Helen - UKGI
; Jane Macleod <°
Rodric,
I know you spoke to Helen Lambert yesterday who unfortunately is out ill at the moment so I am responding on her
behalf.
Thanks you for your markup of the protocol. It looks as though we are still a long way apart on this as your draft
doesn’t recognise a number of things that are essential to us in order to fulfil our function as shareholder and
representative of the SoS.
So I thought it would be helpful to provide some important background to explain the context in which we are
operating:
* Alex Chisholm is the accounting officer for POL and as such is accountable to Parliament for its actions. In
order to properly fulfil this role, he requires full and comprehensive information on the progress of this
litigation. This will not be possible if POL is not willing to provide written updates. We revised our requirements
to provide for updates following reports to the Board to reduce any administrative burden as far as possible, but
we cannot agree to a protocol which includes no obligation on POL to report progress in writing in the litigation.
* Tom Cooper’s position on the Board and sub-committee cannot be viewed as a suitable substitute for a full
and proper reporting mechanism. Tom’s role on the board is to represent the views of the shareholder, he is
unable to do so effectively if the shareholder is not properly and directly informed and Tom is himself precluded
from relaying the most relevant information to the shareholder on the basis that it is legally privileged.
* This protocol was only ever intended to apply to legally privileged information. It is not appropriate to include
provisions such as these in respect of confidential information more widely.
* While legal privilege is an exception to FOIA, it is a qualified exception. It is not necessarily the case that all
information which is designated and treated as legally privileged will fall within the exception and therefore
SoS/UKGI cannot commit never to disclose information which is treated as privileged under this Protocol. It will
of course ensure that it complies with its obligations under Appendix 2 clauses 1.10 — 1.12 to inform and receive
representations from POL in respect of disclosure wherever possible.
We have redrafted the protocol to reflect these principles and a mark-up is attached. We would like to see it finalised
quickly given the litigation timetable. We hope our mark-up is acceptable but if you have comments we would
propose a meeting to get it finished.
In relation to the draft submission that we sent you for comments yesterday, this update has been requested by Alex
Chisholm to be provided this week. This highlights the practical obligations we are under to provide timely and
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relevant information to Ministers and civil servants and the reasons for drafting the protocol along the lines we have
proposed. Please let us know when we can expect to receive comments.
Many thanks
Elizabeth
From: Rodric Williams [mailto:
Sent: 02 May 2018 16:57
To: Lambert, Helen - UKGI <;
Cc: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI
Cooper, Tom - UKGI <
Subject: RE: Litigation a
>; Jane Macleod ¢_
3RO_ >; Callard, Richard - UKGI
> Clarke, Stephen - UKGI
t steps - STRICTLY CONFIDEN’
Helen,
Thank you for providing us with your comments on the draft Information Sharing Protocol.
I attach a mark up showing our further amendments, which aim to reflect the discussion had at the meeting with Tom
Cooper, Richard Callard and Stephen Clarke last week.
Can I suggest you call me to discuss the attached if you have any areas of concern?
With thanks and kind regards, Rodric
Rodric Williams
Head of Legal - Dispute Resolution & Brand
20 Finsbury Street
London EC2Y SAQ
2017 Winner of the Global
Postal Award for Customer
Experience
From: Lambert, Helen - UKGI [mailt
Sent: 20 April 2018 12:08
To: Rodric Williams
Cc: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI P; Callard, Ri
Cooper, Tom - UKGI < Clarke, Stephen - UKGI
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Importance: High
“>; Jane MacLeod <"
Rodric, Jane
Having spoken with policy leads at UKGI this morning, there is a strong desire to get this protocol agreed in advance
of meeting with the permanent secretary next week.
Could you please let me know as a matter of urgency if you will not be able to provide your thoughts on the policy by
COP on Monday.
Many thanks
Helen
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Helen Lambert I Legal Secondee
UK Government Investments
1 Victoria Street I London I SW1H OET
Cc: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI
Cooper, Tom - UKGI 4
Subject: FW: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Callard, Richard - UKGI <i
Rodric, Jane
Thank you for your draft protocol, a revised draft is attached.
As you indicate below, the case is being proactively managed by the Sir Peter Fraser and as such the timetable is liable
to change dramatically. Because of this, we were somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that there would be over
two months between dates on which BEIS/UKGI would receive a formal update. To alleviate this, we have suggested a
provision that allows BEIS/UKGI to be informed of any material change in the timetable.
We have also clarified somewhat the information which can be disclosed to BEIS/UKGI by Tom Cooper, to ensure that
his role on the Board and Sub-committee can be properly utilised, as well as suggesting measures to allow for more
expedient sharing of privileged information. We would consider that assessing this information on a case-by-case
basis would be disproportionate in the context of the relationship between BEIS, UKGI and POL.
Finally we have requested that legal counsel is provided with written updates to ensure that BEIS/UKGI is able to keep
a strong and accurate audit trail in respect of its oversight of the litigation.
We trust that the wording in this protocol assists with your concerns in respect of disclosure of legally privileged
information more widely.
We would be happy to discuss these points with you in person or over the phone.
Separately, we have noted that Tom Cooper has been appointed to the board. We assume that you are therefore
content with the proposed appointment attached (which I sent to you on 23 March 2018). Is it possible to arrange for
this appointment letter to be issued?
Kind regards
Helen
Helen Lambert I Legal Secondee
UK Government Investments
1 Victoria Street I London I SW1H OET
From: Rodric Williams [mailto: ]
UKG100008128
UKGI00008128
Sent: 27 March 2018 18:44
To: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI <
Cc: Jane MacLeod ¢ Callard, Richard - UKGI <
Tom - UKGI , Helen - UKGI <.
Subject: RE: Litigation and Appointment - next steps - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
>; Patrick Bourke
>; Cooper,
Elizabeth,
Thank you for sending through your draft protocol identifying the touchpoints in the Post Office Group Litigation on
which you would like visibility.
Your touchpoints overlap substantially the matters on which we will be reporting to our Board of Directors as part of
our governance for managing the litigation and its risks. That governance includes the establishment of a Board
Subcommittee to receive legal advice on Post Office’s defence as the litigation proceeds. Tom Cooper, BEIS/UKGI’s
shareholder representative on the Board, is a member of the Litigation Subcommittee, which will meet shortly before
full Board meetings so as to provide the full Board with contemporaneous, focussed updates.
In addition to the updates BEIS/UKGI will receive through its Board and Litigation Subcommittee representation, we
are also happy to provide updates on the litigation to BEIS/UKGI’s legal advisors. These should be done in-person or
via telephone conference call, immediately following the full Board meetings to ensure continuity and consistency of
reporting.
The above approach is reflected in the attached revised protocol, which is designed to protect Post Office’s claims to
legal professional privilege and attaches as appendices:
- a reporting timetable prepared around key stages in the litigation and our Board’s calendar; and
- the obligations which will accompany the disclosure of confidential information.
Please note that the litigation timetable is very likely to change in response to the proactive case management being
applied by the Managing Judge Sir Peter Fraser. It is also likely to change as the parties respond to developments in
the litigation itself. We do not however propose to make any changes to scheduled update meetings unless they
require Post Office to consider materially changing its approach to the litigation.
We look forward to receiving your comments on our draft. I am very happy to discuss those in person or over the
telephone if you would find that easiest.
With kind regards, Rodric
Rodric Williams
Head of Legal - Dispute Resolution & Brand
20 Finsbury Street
London EC2Y 94Q
2017 Winner of the Global
Postal Award for Customer
Experience
From: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI [mailto
Sent: 01 March 2018 15:51
To: Patrick Bourke!” vom
Cc: Jane MacLeod ¢ . GRO /Rodric Williams
Richard - UKGI
; Callard,
Lambert, Helen -
+; Cooper, Tom - UKGI <
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Subject: Litigation and Appointment - next steps
Patrick, Helen,
Thank you for your time last week.
As discussed, I attach a standard form litigation protocol along the lines of what we would propose to submit to the
Permanent Secretary. As you will see, this sets out various touchpoints in the litigation process, and the steps we
intend to take to ensure the Permanent Secretary remains fully informed at each salient point.
If you are able to provide more detail on the litigation timetable, or indeed if you have any comments or suggestions,
we would be happy to amend the protocol bespoke to the current litigation.
Separately I’d be grateful, as I indicated in my email to Helen on Monday, if in anticipation of Tom Cooper’s
appointment, you could let me know if you intend to agree an NDA similar to the one you have with Richard, and if so,
forward me the proposed text so that Tom and I may consider.
Kind regards,
Elizabeth
From: Patrick Bourke [mailto: “—"""GRO
Sent: 23 February 2018 15:
To: O'Neill, Elizabeth - UKGI <
Cc: Jane MacLeod ¢
Richard - UKGI
Subject: Litigation
‘odric Williams <. : ; Callard,
Dear Elizabeth
It was a pleasure to meet with you this morning.
I just wanted to confirm that we have understood the need for an appropriately structured information flow in
relation to the matters we discussed earlier, and agree that some form of protocol to govern those
arrangements makes very good sense.
While recognising that there is no set format in this regard, it would nonetheless be helpful for us to draw
inspiration from similar arrangements you have put in place with other ALBs. You kindly offered to share
something with us for that purpose.
We will come back to you with our take on how this might work best in our case, having regard to the
particularities of our governance arrangements and the litigation itself.
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In the meantime, do please feel free to get in touch if there is anything you'd like to discuss.
Kind regards
Patrick
' Patrick Bourke
Corporate Affairs Director
1" Floor
2017 Winner of the
Global Postal Award for 20 Finsbury Street
Customer Experience
London EC2Y 9AQ
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