Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office have since died without receiving any redress; and how many of their relatives have received full redress.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
Tragically, a total of seven wrongfully prosecuted postmasters within the current ‘Overturned Convictions’ cohort have died. Six of these were postmasters whose convictions have been overturned, and one was prosecuted but not convicted. Two of the seven postmasters died after their convictions were overturned. Of these seven claims, four have reached full and final settlement.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place a copy of the Project Zebra review, associated with the Post Office Horizon scandal, in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
The Department does not have a copy of the Project Zebra review. Like other aspects of the Horizon scandal, this is a matter for the statutory Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, to look into
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any Government departments knew about the flaws in the Post Office’s Horizon software system prior to the privatisation of Royal Mail.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
This is a matter for the statutory Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, to look into. It would be wrong for the Government to prejudice its work.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many recipients of Tier 1 (Investor) visas were flagged as potentially at high risk of having links to corruption or organised crime in the recent Tier 1 (Investor) visa review.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Tier 1 (Investor) route has been closed. The then Home Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement on 12 January 2023 setting out the findings of a review into issuance of visas under the route between 2008 and 2015. The Government will not be commenting further on the findings of that review.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) highest, and (2) lowest, compensation payments made to sub postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office to date.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
Postmasters with overturned Horizon convictions are offered a fixed sum award of £600,000 to settle their claim, however those who wish to can continue to have their claim individually assessed. The amounts awarded to individuals are not revealed out of respect for their privacy, but the total so far paid to people whose convictions have been overturned is over £35 million.
The small number of postmasters who were prosecuted but not convicted are eligible to claim compensation via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme or GLO scheme.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted because of flawed Horizon computer evidence are yet to have their convictions overturned, allowing for payment of compensation.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
700 postmasters were prosecuted by Post Office and a further 283 were prosecuted by others based on Post Office evidence, totalling 983 convictions. As of 13 February, there are now 102 overturned wrongful convictions.
On 10 January, the Prime Minister announced that the Government intends to bring forward legislation to overturn the convictions of all those convicted in England or Wales on the basis of Post Office evidence during the Horizon scandal.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the 'Transformation Incentive Scheme' authorising payment of bonuses to the Post Office senior employees for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry was designed, approved, and implemented; and which Ministers approved it.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
While Ministers at the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and HM Treasury Ministers signed off on the 2021/22 Transformation Incentive Scheme (TIS) they did not authorise the payment of bonuses. Determining whether targets have been met and bonuses should be awarded is the responsibility of Post Office Limited’s Remuneration Committee.
The timeline of approvals is set out in both Post Office Limited’s Review of the Transformation Incentive Scheme (TIS), also known as the Amanda Burton Report, and HM Government’s Review Of The Governance Relevant To Post Office Limited's Senior Executive Remuneration.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the names and bonus amounts paid to Post Office senior employees under the ‘Transformation Incentive Scheme’ for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel
This is a matter for Post Office Ltd as the Department does not hold this information. Government understands that all current Post Office employees who received the bonus have voluntarily returned the remuneration associated with the sub-metric relating to the Post Office’s support for the Inquiry. Nick Read (Post Office CEO) took a further step and voluntarily returned the full bonus payment attributed to the overall Inquiry metric.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to extend the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to include registered political parties.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government has no plans to extend the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to registered political parties.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 5 February (HL1819), when Dame Linda Dobbs’ review into Lloyds Banking Group and HBOS Reading began; what period is covered by the review; when the review is due to be completed; when the review is expected to be completed; whether, and if so when, an interim report was published and how many victims of the fraud committed by six then employees of HBOS Reading have given evidence.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Dame Linda Dobbs Review was commissioned by Lloyds Banking Group, so HM Treasury is not in a position to answer questions on the scope and timing of the Review. You can find information about the review on its website (https://www.dobbsreview.com/), where an update was published earlier this month, and which has information on how to contact the Review.
When complete, the findings of the Dame Linda Dobbs Review will be shared with the FCA. The FCA will then consider whether further action is appropriate.