Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many director nominations or appointments they have made or approved to the board of the Post Office in each of the years since 2000.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Shadow Minister (Energy Security and Net Zero)
Nominations to the Board of Post Office Limited are generally made by Post Office Limited’s Nominations Committee (‘NomCo’, a sub-Committee of the Post Office Board) with the resulting appointments confirmed by the Board, on the advice of the NomCo. The Shareholder Representative Non-Executive Director sits on NomCo, and the Shareholder (the Department for Business and Trade) approves the appointment. The exceptions to these processes are the appointment of the Shareholder Non-Executive Director and the appointment of the Chair, which are made by the Shareholder.
A historic record of appointments, as set out on Companies House, is provided below.
Name | Position | Occupation | Appointment date | Resignation date |
Ms Maria Luisa Cassoni | Director | Director | 01/02/2001 | 17/06/2002 |
Mr Peter Michael Corbett | Director | Director | 13/11/2001 | 01/07/2009 |
Mr John Basil Larkins | Director | Director | 13/11/2001 | 25/04/2002 |
Mr David William Miller | Director | Director | 13/11/2001 | 31/07/2006 |
Mr Paul Andrew Rich | Director | Director | 13/11/2001 | 15/04/2002 |
Mr Allan Leslie Leighton | Director | Director | 08/01/2002 | 25/03/2009 |
Mr David Mills | Director | Director | 15/04/2002 | 31/12/2005 |
Mr Alan John Munro Barrie | Director | Director | 03/09/2002 | 08/06/2004 |
Mr John Charles Main | Director | Director | 03/09/2002 | 01/07/2003 |
Mr Gordon Ramsay Steele | Director | Director | 03/09/2002 | 31/01/2006 |
Elmar Toime | Director | Director | 10/04/2003 | 16/11/2004 |
Mr Michael Hodgkinson | Director | Director | 01/05/2003 | 31/08/2007 |
Mr John Barnetson Anderson | Director | Director | 01/07/2003 | 14/04/2007 |
Mr Stephen Graham Halliday | Director | Director | 20/08/2003 | 31/07/2006 |
Mr Brian Joseph Goggin | Director | Director | 01/09/2004 | 21/07/2006 |
Mr Alan Ronald Cook | Director | Director | 22/02/2005 | 15/03/2010 |
Mr Richard Phillip Francis | Director | Director | 02/03/2005 | 02/05/2008 |
Ms Sue Rachel Whalley | Director | Director | 01/09/2006 | 05/11/2009 |
Mr David Ian Glynn | Director | Director | 26/10/2006 | 31/10/2009 |
Mr Gary Hockey Morley | Director | Director | 26/10/2006 | 31/10/2009 |
Ms Deborah Lois Moore | Director | Director | 12/06/2007 | 31/10/2009 |
Mr Michael Thomas Young | Director | Director | 01/08/2008 | 31/10/2009 |
Mr Donald Hood Brydon | Director | Director | 01/05/2009 | 22/09/2011 |
Mr Michael John Moores | Director | Director | 01/07/2009 | 10/06/2011 |
Mr David John Smith | Director | Director | 06/04/2010 | 13/06/2011 |
Moya Marguerite Greene | Director | Director | 18/10/2010 | 17/12/2010 |
Mr Arthur Leslie Owen | Director | Director | 18/10/2010 | 15/03/2012 |
Ms Paula Anne Vennells | Director | Director | 18/10/2010 | 30/04/2019 |
Mr Matthew Lester | Director | Director | 17/12/2010 | 01/11/2011 |
Ms Alice Elizabeth Perkins | Director | Director | 21/07/2011 | 31/07/2015 |
Mr Christopher Mark Day | Director | Director | 22/09/2011 | 28/01/2015 |
Mr Neil McCausland | Director | Director | 22/09/2011 | 30/09/2015 |
Ms Virginia Anne Holmes | Director | Director | 04/04/2012 | 27/03/2018 |
Ms Susannah Jemima Storey | Director | Civil Servant | 18/04/2012 | 26/03/2014 |
Mr Alasdair Marnoch | Director | Director | 23/05/2012 | 31/07/2015 |
Mr Timothy Franklin | Director | Director | 19/09/2012 | 31/12/2019 |
Mr Richard John Callard | Director | Director | 26/03/2014 | 27/03/2018 |
Mr Alisdair Charles John Cameron | Director | Chief Financial Officer | 28/01/2015 | NA |
Mr Timothy Charles Parker | Director | Chairman | 01/10/2015 | 30/09/2022 |
Mr Kenneth Stanely McCall | Director | Director | 21/01/2016 | 26/01/2022 |
Ms Carla Rosaline Stent | Director | Director | 21/01/2016 | 17/02/2023 |
Mr Thomas Knut Glenn Cooper | Director | Non Executive Director | 27/03/2018 | 11/05/2023 |
Ms Shirine Khoury-Haq | Director | Director | 24/05/2018 | 18/07/2019 |
Mr Nicholas James Read | Director | Chief Executive Officer | 16/09/2019 | NA |
Zarin Homi Patel | Director | Non Executive Director | 26/11/2019 | 13/03/2023 |
Ms Lisa Harrington | Director | Director | 08/04/2020 | 01/06/2023 |
Mr Sarfaraz Gulam Ismail | Director | Director | 03/06/2021 | NA |
Mr Elliot Marc Jacobs | Director | Director | 03/06/2021 | NA |
Mr Brian Gaunt | Director | Director | 25/01/2022 | NA |
Mr Henry Eric Staunton | Director | Chairman | 01/12/2022 | 27/01/2024 |
Mr Simon Jeffreys | Director | Non Executive Director | 23/03/2023 | NA |
Ms Amanda Jane Burton | Director | Director | 27/04/2023 | NA |
Ms Lorna Rachel Gratton | Director | Director | 12/05/2023 | NA |
Mr Andrew Atta Darfoor | Director | Director | 20/06/2023 | NA |
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow and Gateshead East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who recommended Paula Vennells for an award in the 2019 New Year Honours list.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Honours nominations are made in confidence, and there is an expectation that they remain confidential in order to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the honours system.
Asked by: Chris Loder (Conservative - West Dorset)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what role Paula Vennells had in advising the Commissioners after 2019; and which committees she attended.
Answered by Andrew Selous
In the spring of 2019 the House of Bishops discussed why some of the recommendations of the Church Buildings Review, which was approved by the General Synod in November 2015, had not been implemented. Paula Vennells was subsequently asked by the Archbishops to undertake a lessons learnt review. During the course of the review its remit was expanded to look at the wider working together of the National Church Institutions (NCIs), including issues around organisational governance, leadership and culture. The report, ‘Church Buildings Review- Lessons Learnt’, was completed in October 2019 and Paula Vennells attended a meeting of the House of Bishops in December 2019 at which it was presented.
In February 2020 Paula Vennells was invited to attend the Church Commissioners Board of Governors for a discussion of the Lessons Learnt report, but she was unable to attend and the report was considered in her absence. The Lessons Learnt report was considered by the Archbishops’ Council in March 2020, again in the absence of Paula Vennells, who was invited but unable to attend.
In March 2020 the Archbishops established a Coordinating Group, to continue the work of the Triennium Funding Working Group, and to coordinate certain strands of national work for the Church during the Covid 19 pandemic. Paula Vennells was invited to join the Coordinating Group and to lead on the part focusing on Governance. She attended three meetings of the Group, in April, May and June 2020 and sent apologies to two further meetings in June and July, before withdrawing from the work. The Coordinating Group became what is now the Emerging Church Steering Group. A Governance Review group under the Chairmanship of the Bishop of Leeds proceeded from August 2020, without the involvement of Paula Vennells.
The Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) is convened and funded by the three National Investment Bodies, to whom it provides ethical investment advice. Paula Vennells was appointed to the EIAG by its Nominations Committee and was a member between March 2019 and April 2021. She attended two meetings, in March and October 2019, and sent apologies for meetings thereafter until she took leave of absence from the Group from June 2020, lasting until her resignation in April 2021. More information about the EIAG can be found here: Ethical Investment Advisory Group | The Church of England
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what due diligence checks the Honours committee conducted before Paula Vennells received an award in the 2019 New Year Honours list.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Names of honours committee members are published within the Government’s reports on the operation of the honours system, and are a matter of public record.
The process relating to individual honours nominations are conducted in confidence. There is an expectation that this remains so, in order to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the honours system. The Government has previously published information relating to routine checks carried out prior to the awarding of honours, which is available online.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the members of the Honours committee that approved the CBE for Paula Vennells in the 2019 New Year Honours list.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Names of honours committee members are published within the Government’s reports on the operation of the honours system, and are a matter of public record.
The process relating to individual honours nominations are conducted in confidence. There is an expectation that this remains so, in order to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the honours system. The Government has previously published information relating to routine checks carried out prior to the awarding of honours, which is available online.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
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 confirm that, as a core participant, Paula Vennells' cost of legal representation in relation to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry has not been covered by the public purse under Section 40 of the Inquiry Act 2005.
Answered by Paul Scully
In the progress update published in September, Sir Wyn Williams clearly outlines his approach towards legal representation and funding for Core Participants.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the quashing of the convictions of 39 sub-postmasters at the Court of Appeal on 23 April, what assessment they have made of the possibility of repayment of any severance payment made to Paula Vennells on her departure from Post Office Ltd.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. I will correspond directly with the noble Lord.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 4 March 2021 to Question 160543 on Paula Vennells, for what reason his Department made a different judgement on whether the costs of publishing the correspondence were disproportionate for (a) January to June 2013 and (b) July to December 2013.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS officials consider several factors when assessing whether a request can be obtained at proportionate cost. One such factor is the time a request is made. A request made close to the time it is requesting information from is easier to process and respond to. A request sent a significant time after an event is much more difficult to process in a timely way, as it involves a recall of historic records by the records team.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
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 publish all correspondence between Paula Vennels and his Department dated between July 2013 and December 2013.
Answered by Paul Scully
BEIS officials have assessed that publication of the correspondence between Paula Vennells and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy dated between July 2013 and December 2013 can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the evidence from Paula Vennells to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee on 24 June 2020, what the identify is of the law firm involved on behalf of his Department with which the UKGI POL representative was fully engaged.
Answered by Paul Scully
The legal defence of the litigation was handled solely by Post Office Ltd.