Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Gustafsson on 11 February (HL Deb cols 1104–07), what plans they have to provide a further update to the House on the remedial actions they have taken following the Post Office Horizon scandal; and what steps they have taken to improve the skills of, and accountability measures relating to, directors from the Civil Service who represent the Government on the boards of organisations of which the Government owns a share.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
I provided the House an update on the redress schemes on the 27 February.
There are currently over 300 public bodies, many of whom operate with independent Boards. The decision on whether to place a representative on the Board is for the sponsoring Department.
UK Government Investments (UKGI) currently provides a Shareholder Representative function on behalf of Departments for 25 of government's most commercially-focused bodies, including providing Board representatives for 22 of these bodies. UKGI provides extensive training for its representatives covering a range of corporate governance issues. This training has developed significantly in recent years and is regularly updated.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether UK Government Investments has made a request to Post Office Limited to (a) proceed with moving all directly managed branches to a fully franchised model and (b) expedite the shift of directly managed branches that have previously been earmarked to be moved to a fully franchised model since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
Nigel Railton, the Post Office Chair, has set out his ambitions for the future of the Post Office, which involves a reduction in central costs and other ways to deliver efficiencies, plus steps to improve the commercial future of the business in order to enable real term increases in postmaster pay. No decisions have yet been taken on the future of any individual Directly Managed Branches (DMBs) as part of this plan. The Government will continue to work closely with Post Office as they develop their transformation plan. In the meantime, we expect the Post Office to fully engage and consult with the Unions and postmaster representative bodies about future options for the DMBs.
Decisions about franchising are an operational matter for Post Office Limited. The Government is broadly supportive of POL’s transformation plan, including the aim of increasing postmaster pay, however neither the Department nor UKGI, acting as the Shareholder representative on the Board of Post Office Limited, have made the requests referred to in the question.
The Post Office will continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement set by Government.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Post Office board.
Answered by Gareth Thomas
Annually, in line with the Financial Reporting Council’s Corporate Governance Code, the Post Office Board runs a Board Evaluation exercise to determine skills gaps on the Board and areas for improvement. The outcomes of this review are shared with DBT as the Post Office Shareholder. The Government monitors the implementation of their recommendations via the Shareholder Representative, UK Government Investments, to support the continuous improvement of the Board.
In line with Post Office’s governance framework, the Government recently approved the Post Office Chair to lead the recruitment of new Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) specialising in technological transformation and organisational design to complement the Board’s existing composition. A further two new Postmaster NEDs should join the Board in the near future, providing an ongoing voice on behalf of the postmaster community.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will publish (a) reports and (b) briefings provided to (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in her Department and its predecessor Departments by the (A) former UK Shareholder Executive and (B) UK Government Investments on the Horizon IT system.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is looking into the nature of information provided to Ministers and officials on the Horizon system. It would be wrong for the Government to prejudice its work. Government continues to cooperate fully with the Inquiry.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has plans to strengthen the accountability of Post Office senior managers through the Government's shareholder role.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Following the Group Litigation Order court case, the Government has taken steps to strengthen the governance of the Post Office. This has included expanding the Department’s Post Office Policy team that works closely with UK Government Investments (UKGI) in advising Ministers on holding the Post Office to account.
The Government has also strengthened and formalised the respective responsibilities of the Post Office, Government and UKGI through a Framework Document published in 2020. The Government also maintains strong oversight of the progress made on resolving issues related to Horizon and will continue to hold the Post Office to account for learning relevant lessons and making tangible changes to the organisation.
The recent issue surrounding senior bonuses at Post Office highlighted a number of corporate governance issues which were the subject of the review undertaken by Simmons and Simmons and published in August 2023. The review made a number of important findings and recommendations, which Post Office accepted in full. The implementation of these recommendations is a priority and Government is monitoring Post Office’s progress closely.
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, whether officials of UK Government Investments will be asked to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is independent of the Department, and so BEIS does not have information on who will be called to appear before it to give evidence at the Inquiry hearings. This is for Sir Wyn Williams to decide as Chair of the Inquiry.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post offices have been closed in England as a result of being assessed as not commercially viable since 2018.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK and remains committed to the long-term sustainability of the network.
Overall post office branch numbers are published yearly by the Post Office in their Network Report and Government, via UK Government Investments, monitors network numbers regularly. The report for 2018/19 can be found at http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/media/46607/networkreport2019_final_190210.pdf.
Changes to the Post Office network can and do happen, often for reasons beyond the Post Office’s control, for instance a postmaster retirement. When this happens, the Post Office will try to restore services as soon as possible by putting in place temporary arrangements or working hard to find an alternative location.
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, whether any Government internal audit has identified the Post Office Limited or UKGI as entities which lacked a Framework Document or Memorandum of Understanding with his Department.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) issued a report on Post Office Sponsorship in October 2019, noting that a Framework Document and MOU were in the process of being finalised. A Framework Document outlining key activities, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities between BEIS, UKGI and Post Office Ltd has been agreed and was published on 25 March 2020. The document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-office-limited-shareholder-relationship-framework-document.
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 28 January 2020 to Question 6031 on Post Office: Public Appointments, by which selection process was Tom Cooper offered the role of Shareholder Non-Executive Director on the Post Office Board.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has had a Shareholder Non-Executive Director on the Board of Post Office Limited since the company was separated from the Royal Mail in April 2012. This right is provided for in POL’s Articles of Association. Tom Cooper was appointed as a Director of UK Government Investments through a competitive process and was proposed to BEIS as the department’s next representative on the POL Board. This was agreed by BEIS and Tom Cooper was appointed on 27 March 2018.
Tom Cooper does not receive a salary for being on the Post Office Board.
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 28 January 2020 to Question 6031 on Post Office: Public Appointments, what salary Tom Cooper receives as Non-Executive Director of the Post Office Board.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has had a Shareholder Non-Executive Director on the Board of Post Office Limited since the company was separated from the Royal Mail in April 2012. This right is provided for in POL’s Articles of Association. Tom Cooper was appointed as a Director of UK Government Investments through a competitive process and was proposed to BEIS as the department’s next representative on the POL Board. This was agreed by BEIS and Tom Cooper was appointed on 27 March 2018.
Tom Cooper does not receive a salary for being on the Post Office Board.