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FW: Follow up to London Meeting 30th Jan 14
Subject: FW: Follow up to London Meeting 30th Jan 14
From: "Alan Bates" <alan.bate GRO j
Date: 17/02/2014 22:03
To: <AnthonyHooper
Hello Tony,
I thought it may be helpful to send you a copy of the email and documents I sent to Chris Aujard of POLa fter our meeting at the end of January.
Regards
Alan
From: Alan Bates [mailto:alan.bates¢.
Sent: 08 February 2014 12:53
Tot ‘christopher. aujard€, s]
Subject: Follow up to London Meeting 30th Jan 14
Hello Chris, as promised at the last London meeting, I have attached copies of some of the main documents associated with the Case Review & Media tion Scheme.
Many of these have been used by Applicants as the basis on which they have taken part, which is why I con tinue to refer to them,
From our (JFSA) point of view, the documents build one on top of each other and do not replace the previous. This whole Scheme has been developed as we have
been feeling our way along. Initially JFSA was striving for a full public inquiry and whilst we had been growing support from MPs and the media, it was very much
down to the MPs, in particular James Arbuthnot, that we eventually agreed to follow the route which led to the ‘Raising Concerns with Horizon’ document in
December 2012. That document encouraged serving SPMRs to submit cases which 2" Sight began to investigate along with those submitted by MPs and JFSA.
By July 2013 the MPs wanted an update on the progress of the process which in turn led to the 2 Sight Interim Report being produced and a meeting at
Westminster with MPs before their summer recess. Shortly after that report and meeting, Paula Vennells and I spoke to discuss what op tions there were for taking
the issue forward, and it was from those discussions that a number of mee tings took place between POL, JFSA and 2" sight that eventually arrived at the current
Scheme.
itis no secret that my main concern from the outset with the route we (JFSA) have agreed to follow is with the one major flaw which I have raised in wri ting on
many occasions. Obviously POL has to have a seat at the table but it should not be involved with the funding or the administration of the whole process. The
Minister and BiS should have been involved here, yet every time I raise the point with them, the Minister gives me an assurance such as the extract from her letter
to me last September (see attached extract jpg).
There are also a number of MPs who are concerned over this very point and have contacted me to ask me to let them know if POL try to hijack the Scheme or use
its corporate muscle to undermine any fairness or openness.
You will find have attached a copy of the Hansard extract relating to the Minister reporting back to the House on the Interim Report from last September. She
does make many points clear about what the Scheme is meant to address and how it is meant to achieve them, and to us (JFSA) this is yet another building block
in the overall format and terms of the Scheme.
I appreciate it is not that easy to come into all of this after it has been forming over all the months it has, but from our point of view none of the documenta tion
that has arrived since ‘Raising Concerns with Horizon’ has replaced anything previously but has only added to it, in order to clarify the way the process has
developed.
If you have any questions or require clarification over any point I would gladly discuss them with you. Normally it is easier to contact me of
email.
Alan
extract JPG ———
I have noted your concerns about the Mediation Scheme and the work of Second Sight
being funded by POL and the potential, therefore, for their independence to be
questioned. But it is important to be clear that Second Sight are not employed by POL.
They have been engaged to undertake a specific role within the independent framework
in which accountants, lawyers and other professional advisers are fully accustomed to
operate.
—Attachments:
CaseReviewMediationPack.pdf 141 KB
ComplaintReviewMediationSchemeLet' er.pdf 167 KB
FOI Horizon Definition.pdf 40.6 KB
Hansard - Horizon - Minister - Jo Swinson - 9 July 2013.pdf 313 KB
Raising Concerns with Horizon Document - POL signed 17.12.12.pdf 425 KB
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FW: Follow up to London Meeting 30th Jan 14
extract JPG 57.2 KB
2o0f2 15/04/2016 17:21