Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Government providing compensation in addition to that recently awarded by the Post Office to sub-postmasters found to have been innocent of accusations of theft as a result of the Post Office's Horizon IT system fault.
Answered by Paul Scully
Postmasters are the backbone of the Post Office, and their branches are vital to communities across the country. That is why Government takes Post Office Ltd’s relationship with its postmasters very seriously.
The settlement agreed with the Post Office included all legal and other costs. In those circumstances the Government cannot accept any further request for payment.
The Government wants to make sure lessons are learned from this case, so that such issues do not happen again, and it is of the upmost importance that the Post Office proceeds to undertake its dealings with postmasters openly and transparently. We will announce further details on this in due course.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's management of the Post Office since the roll-out of the Horizon accounting system in 2000.
Answered by Paul Scully
While publicly owned and accountable to Government for its decisions, Post Office Ltd operates as an independent, commercial business and management of the roll-out of the Horizon accounting system falls within the scope of the Post Office’s responsibilities.
Since 2004, United Kingdom Government Investments, previously known as the Shareholder Executive, has acted as Shareholder Representative for BEIS, overseeing POL’s corporate governance, strategy, and the stewardship of POL’s financial resources on behalf of the shareholder. Prior to 2004, this role was carried out by the Department for Trade and Industry.
It is important that Government takes the Post Office’s relationship with postmasters very seriously and closely monitors the situation. The Post Office, through its new CEO has since accepted he got things wrong. He has apologised and said it aims at establishing a positive relationship with its postmasters. BEIS is working actively with the Post Office on this matter and will hold them to account on their progress.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the individual losses faced by sub-postmasters due to errors in the Horizon accounting system.
Answered by Paul Scully
Postmasters are key to the work of the Post Office, and their branches are vital to communities across the country. That is why Government takes POL's relationship with its postmasters very seriously.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. As such, matters encompassed by this litigation, including the relationship between POL and its postmasters, is operational to Post Office Limited. I have asked Nick Read, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member about this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of age restrictions by outlets on the sale of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. Key issues that have been raised include the regulation of age restrictions and restricting the sale of fireworks. The evidence base is considering data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether, and what, further action is appropriate.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulation on age restrictions in relation to the sale of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. Key issues that have been raised include the regulation of age restrictions and restricting the sale of fireworks. The evidence base is considering data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether, and what, further action is appropriate.
Asked by: Chris Elmore (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a licence for the purchase of fireworks.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. Key issues that have been raised include the regulation of age restrictions and restricting the sale of fireworks. The evidence base is considering data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether, and what, further action is appropriate.