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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE at
Department for
Business, Energy
& Industrial Strategy
Meeting with Tim Parker and Alisdair Cameron
(Post Office Limited)
16:00-17:00, Monday 24 June 2019
Location (TBC)
External Attendees:
e Tim Parker — Independent Chair, Post Office Limited
e Alisdair Cameron — Interim Chief Executive Officer, Post Office Limited
Internal Attendees:
e Carl Creswell — Director, Professional Business Services, Retail and Post
Eleanor Beal - Head of Post Office Policy and Sectors Briefing Hub « GRO )
Purpose of meeting and Handling:
Tim Parker proposed this meeting in response to your letter of 29 May (Annex A)
regarding POL’s approach to the ongoing litigation. Tim’s written response to you on
3 June (Annex B) noted that POL would prefer to share further details through
discussion rather than in writing.
This meeting is an opportunity for you to: (1) gather further information on POL’s
planned approach to the litigation and costings; and (2) deliver Ministers’ steers on
POL’s approach to the litigation, as agreed internally following discussion at the 4
June Industry meeting (SoS wants to pursue options 1-7; Annex C).
Alisdair Cameron also wrote to you on several topics on 4 June (Annex D) anda
draft reply is with your office for signature, suggesting that those topics also be
covered at this meeting (if time).
Agenda:
No Item Time
1. POL’s approach to ongoing litigation 16:00-16:45
2. Issues raised in Al’s letter 16:45-16:55
3. I AOB 16:55-17:00
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE ee
Department for
Business, Energy
& Industrial Strategy
Points to make:
1. Intro
e Thank Al and his team for participating constructively in the recent session
with the NFSP. You could also acknowledge that the pay review announced
by POL has been a helpful response to pressures on the issue.
e In addition, you could thank POL for deciding to review how they consult on
franchising changes (something that you could announce at the Select
Committee tomorrow).
2. POL’s approach to ongoing litigation
e Please express your dissatisfaction with the current status of the litigation and
invite POL to present details of their strategy. You might wish to probe for
further details on:
o scenarios as to how the litigation will play out;
o how it could be settled, including what settlement windows could exist
during the trial timetable;
othe potential costs of the litigation, in relation to possible outcomes,
including assumptions and rationale for calculations;
othe Post Office’s ability to fund a settlement in the range referred to
above without further taxpayer support.
e Please provide the below steers to POL, reflecting the options agreed by the
SoS:
o BEIS’s preference is for POL to pursue early settlement of the case
(either after the Horizon case or after the Court of Appeal);
o POL should carry out a project on how to structure and operate a
settlement — including a fund which would subsequently assess claims
and award compensation according to pre-agreed criteria;
o At the conclusion of the Horizon trial, BEIS would encourage POL to
announce that it is taking on board some of the legitimate criticisms in
the judgments to date and is taking action to address them;
o You would like to add a Government legal adviser to the POL litigation
sub committee as director or observer;
o You will be inviting Nigel Boardman, chair of the BEIS Audit and Risk
Committee, to engage with POL to carry out some independent due
diligence on POL’s litigation strategy, following a discussion with Alex
Chisholm.
e More broadly, you are keen to establish clear information-sharing
arrangements between BEIS and POL. The proposed Shareholder
Framework Agreement would be a good place to set out these arrangements
UKGI00010212
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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE ee
Department for
Business, Energy
& Industrial Strategy
and you would welcome Tim and Al’s support to accelerate finalising this
document;
Please let Tim and Al know that you intend to state at the Select Committee
hearing on 25 June that you want to see justice resulting from litigation for
claimants with valid claims.
Background:
You asked Tim to share details of POL’s proposed approach to the litigation
in your letter of 29 May. He responded on 3 June, but noted that they would
share further detail in a meeting.
Separately, Ministers discussed POL’s approach to the litigation at the
industry meeting on 4 June and officials subsequently provided advice setting
out options for BEIS’s strategy in relation to the litigation. SoS has decided
that BEIS should pursue options 1-7 (see Annex D).
3. Issues raised in Al’s letter (if time or if pressed)
You would welcome any update on POL’s review of postmaster pay,
underlining the importance that something can be announced after the six-
week period that was briefed to the Daily Mail;
Please thank Al for suggesting that you announce POL’s plans to review and
redesign their communications around franchising when you appear at the
Select Committee tomorrow;
As discussed at the NFSP/POL working group, you are not in a position to
commit government subsidy to POL beyond 2021, but you will endeavour to
offer reassurance to postmasters on this point when you appear in front of the
Select Committee tomorrow;
You and your officials are working closely with DWP to ensure that the
replacement for POca meets the needs of vulnerable citizens, and that
benefits of including POL in the replacement scheme are properly
considered. It will be for DWP to announce next steps in due course;
As stated at the POL/NFSP working group meeting, you have asked BEIS
Officials to prioritise efforts to act as a champion for POL across Government
on a range of policy issues. Officials will welcome POL’s support to get the
‘pitch’ right.
Biographies:
[If the Minister has not previously met the stakeholder please include a short
biography and photograph]