Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when Post Office Ltd will publish its annual report and accounts.
Answered by Paul Scully
Under the Companies Act, firms have 9 months after the relevant financial year ends to file its accounts, meaning the end of December 2020 for Post Office Limited. Companies House has provided an optional three-month extension of this deadline due to Covid-19. In recent years Post Office Limited has laid its report and accounts before Parliament between September and December.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the £50 million announced in the 2020 Spending Review for Post Office subsidy and restructuring has been allocated for (a) subsidising and (b) restructuring the branch network.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government will provide £227 million of funding through the Spending Review to the Post Office. This extends the £50 million network subsidy and provides Post Office with £177 million to invest in the future of the network.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much Post Office Ltd spent on legal costs in the 2019-20 financial year.
Answered by Paul Scully
Post Office responded to the BEIS Select Committee Inquiry in June 2020 regarding costs of the group litigation and its consequences and estimated that, since 2016/17 Post Office has incurred costs of approximately £43m in relation to the litigation (which began in April 2016). This figure includes expenditure on legal and consultancy fees connected with the litigation and other costs indirectly related to the litigation, but excludes the settlement amount of £57.75m which was ultimately paid by Post Office in December 2019.
The settlement in relation to the Horizon IT case agreed in December 2019 will be included in Post Office’s annual report and accounts for the financial year 2019/20, as will spend on litigation costs for financial year 2019/20.
Under the Companies Act, firms have 9 months after the relevant financial year ends to file their accounts, meaning the end of December 2020 for 2019/20 accounts. For accounts from the 2019/20 financial year Companies House has provided an optional three-month extension of this deadline due to Covid-19. In recent years, the Post Office has laid its report and accounts before Parliament between September and December.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in which financial year the £58 million legal settlement in relation to the Horizon IT case will be accounted for in Post Office Ltd’s Annual Report and Accounts.
Answered by Paul Scully
Post Office responded to the BEIS Select Committee Inquiry in June 2020 regarding costs of the group litigation and its consequences and estimated that, since 2016/17 Post Office has incurred costs of approximately £43m in relation to the litigation (which began in April 2016). This figure includes expenditure on legal and consultancy fees connected with the litigation and other costs indirectly related to the litigation, but excludes the settlement amount of £57.75m which was ultimately paid by Post Office in December 2019.
The settlement in relation to the Horizon IT case agreed in December 2019 will be included in Post Office’s annual report and accounts for the financial year 2019/20, as will spend on litigation costs for financial year 2019/20.
Under the Companies Act, firms have 9 months after the relevant financial year ends to file their accounts, meaning the end of December 2020 for 2019/20 accounts. For accounts from the 2019/20 financial year Companies House has provided an optional three-month extension of this deadline due to Covid-19. In recent years, the Post Office has laid its report and accounts before Parliament between September and December.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial provision Post Office Ltd is making for future legal costs in response to its decision not to oppose 44 out of 47 appeals in which it acted as prosecutor.
Answered by Paul Scully
The question of financial provisions relating to future legal costs is an operational matter for the Post Office Limited. Post Office Limited will be following appropriate accounting standards in producing their annual accounts.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is empowered to turn the inquiry into Post Office Horizon cases into a statutory inquiry.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Inquiries Act 2005 sets out the legal framework for setting up and running a statutory Inquiry. The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry is being led by an Independent Chair who can raise any issues with its Terms of Reference or legal footing with Government.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
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 were temporarily closed in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) each region of England on (i) 31 August 2020 and (ii) 30 September 2020.
Answered by Paul Scully
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, the number of temporary closures across the UK on the 31st August and 30th September are operational matters for Post Office Limited.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
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 were temporarily closed in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) each region of England on (i) 31 August 2020 and (ii) 30 September 2020, by branch type.
Answered by Paul Scully
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, the company has the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. As such, the number of temporary closures, by branch type, across the UK on the 31st August and 30th September are operational matters for Post Office Limited.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many intention notices proposing a reduction of a Green Deal loan mis-sold by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd have been carried out without appeal in each of the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Deal Framework Regulations require that, before imposing any sanction, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State gives notice to affected parties of his intention to impose a sanction (an initial notice, referred to as an Intention Notice) and provides them with an opportunity to make representations before it is made final.
As of 8th October 2020, there were 117 appeals against mis-selling by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) for which no Intention Notice or final decision has been issued.
The average time between receipt of an appeal case by the Secretary of State and the Issue of an Intention Notice is 13 months.
The following table shows how many Intention Notices were issued by month proposing reduction or cancellation of Green Deal loans in response to appeals about mis-selling by HELMS, and the number of these cases for which no representations have been received.
Month | Number of Intention Notices Sent | Number of cases for which no representations have been received |
October 2019 | 15 | 9 |
November 2019 | 11 | 9 |
December 2019 | 17 | 9 |
January 2020 | 13 | 7 |
February 2020 | 22 | 10 |
March 2020 | 12 | 6 |
April 2020 | 3 | 0 |
Complainants can appeal final decisions (set out in final Sanction Notices) to the General Regulatory Chamber of the First–tier Tribunal. For one case recorded in the above table, the complainant did not submit representations but, following receipt of a final Sanction Notice, appealed to the Tribunal.
No Intention Notices have been issued since April. In April, two decisions were made by the First-tier Tribunal in response to appeals. Following this, the issuing of Intention Notices was paused to allow for full consideration of the First-tier Tribunal decisions in future Intention Notices.
During this period, 43 Sanction Notices have been issued in response to appeals about mis-selling by HELMS.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many cases are awaiting a decision on whether to serve intention notices proposing a reduction of a Green Deal loan mis-sold by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Green Deal Framework Regulations require that, before imposing any sanction, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State gives notice to affected parties of his intention to impose a sanction (an initial notice, referred to as an Intention Notice) and provides them with an opportunity to make representations before it is made final.
As of 8th October 2020, there were 117 appeals against mis-selling by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd (HELMS) for which no Intention Notice or final decision has been issued.
The average time between receipt of an appeal case by the Secretary of State and the Issue of an Intention Notice is 13 months.
The following table shows how many Intention Notices were issued by month proposing reduction or cancellation of Green Deal loans in response to appeals about mis-selling by HELMS, and the number of these cases for which no representations have been received.
Month | Number of Intention Notices Sent | Number of cases for which no representations have been received |
October 2019 | 15 | 9 |
November 2019 | 11 | 9 |
December 2019 | 17 | 9 |
January 2020 | 13 | 7 |
February 2020 | 22 | 10 |
March 2020 | 12 | 6 |
April 2020 | 3 | 0 |
Complainants can appeal final decisions (set out in final Sanction Notices) to the General Regulatory Chamber of the First–tier Tribunal. For one case recorded in the above table, the complainant did not submit representations but, following receipt of a final Sanction Notice, appealed to the Tribunal.
No Intention Notices have been issued since April. In April, two decisions were made by the First-tier Tribunal in response to appeals. Following this, the issuing of Intention Notices was paused to allow for full consideration of the First-tier Tribunal decisions in future Intention Notices.
During this period, 43 Sanction Notices have been issued in response to appeals about mis-selling by HELMS.