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+ Kelly Tolhurst MP
ROS Department for B Ei &
cd Industrial Strategy
Department for 1 Mietora Sweet
Business, Energy SW1H OET
& Industrial Strategy
Al Cameron ow snauites
Post Office Limited w.gov.uk
20 Finsbury Street Our ref:
London EC2Y 9AQ Your ref.
July 2019
OFFICIAL SENSITIVE: COMMERCIAL
Thank you for your letter dated 28 June.
Firstly, let me start by congratulating you on securing the important contract with British Gas.
This is positive news and, as you say, will be welcomed by Postmasters and make the
network more attractive to retailers. It is important to continue seeking further commercial
opportunities and delivering services that customers want and need. Government will of
course support POL however necessary in seeking future opportunities.
I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me on 24 June. It was helpful to discuss a
breadth of topics across Post Office Limited and I am pleased that good progress continues to
be made on the business’s journey towards commercial sustainability. I would also like to
thank you for acknowledging Government's support to the Post Office and for your kind words
about my performance at the Select Committee session on Tuesday 25 June. Finally, I am
also thankful for your offer to visit Peter Kyle MP in his constituency in Hove to discuss the
closure of the Western Road Crown Post Office. I am sure your engagement with the MP will
demonstrate the Post Office’s commitment to achieving a good outcome in Hove and I would
be grateful if you could keep me up to date on this specific case.
On the ongoing Alan Bates and Others v Post Office Limited litigation, when we last met I
outlined my concerns about the implications of the trials for the business and its reputation. I
have since noted the termination of the Horizon trial and the postponement of the third trial to
March 2020. I was grateful to you and Tim for taking the time to discuss your approach to the
litigation with me and I welcome your openness to consider new approaches as part of a
refreshed strategy. I look forward to continuing to work closely with you on this issue and
thank you for agreeing to have a BEIS representative on the Board sub-committee and to
meeting with Nigel Boardman. I understand that my officials are now putting the relevant
arrangements in place. Furthermore, I find your reassurance on information sharing very
encouraging and I look forward our teams finishing their work on an Information Sharing
Protocol and the Shareholder Framework Agreement as soon as possible.
With regards to POCA, I am pleased to learn that your engagement with DWP is progressing
and that Guy Opperman MP has expressed his keenness for DWP to work with you to find a
solution. I would encourage you to keep engaging with DWP and let my officials know if
support from BEIS would be helpful to broker a solution that benefits POCA customers,
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postmasters and the Post Office network. I am scheduling a meeting with Guy Opperman MP
for after summer recess, so would welcome any input from your in advance of that discussion.
On the Identity front, I am aware this is extremely important for the business. Please do let me
and the BEIS Post Office Policy team know what more can be done to support your
conversations with John Manzoni and Government Digital Services.
With regards to the Banking Framework 2 Agreement and Barclays’ decision not to sign up to
the ‘cash withdrawal’ services, this is obviously disappointing. I am pleased to hear you are
continuing to discuss this situation with Barclays and I hope a positive solution can be found
for Barclays customers.
I thank you for your letter and I look forward hearing the outcomes of the reviews of
postmaster pay and the communication of the franchise process.
KELLY TOLHURST MP
Minister for Small Business, Consumers & Corporate Responsibility