Calls for Paula Vennells to return Post Office bonuses as IT expert behind software demands immunity
10 January 2024, 00:09
Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is facing calls to return her bonuses after handing back her CBE over the Horizon scandal.
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Campaigners have said Ms Vennells decision to hand the honour back was a token gesture, calling for her to face "real justice" instead.
She was awarded the CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to the "Post Office and to charity” but faced mounting pressure for it to be revoked after TV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office gave an insight into the Horizon scandal.
Ms Vennells is thought to have earned as much as £5million in her role as Post Office boss and is now facing calls to return £2.93million in performance-related perks and payments in lieu of pension.
Campaigner and former sub-postmaster Chris Trousdale said Ms Vennells should be "stripped of her wealth, pension and reputation, just like the sub-postmasters were".
"The execs' bonuses, their pensions and their pay were based on figures inflated by victims' money," he said, according to the Mail.
"It's disgusting that our money ended up directly in the pockets of bigwigs like Paula Vennells who are now living lives of luxury."
Read more: Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells was 'shortlisted to be Bishop of London'
Andy Furey, from the Communication Workers Union, said Ms Vennells' decision "was inevitable and is really just a token gesture compared to what real justice would look like".
"Her time at the Post Office has forever tarnished this once-great national institution," he said. "But for her it involved receiving millions of pounds in pay and performance-related bonuses.
"Since she received these bonuses while overseeing the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history, it would only be right to return this money."
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Tory MP Paul Bristow said: "While Paula trousered £3million in bonuses, sub-postmasters were being hounded, losing their homes and being forced to pay for overspends that didn't even exist.
"I hope we can recoup some of that money from Fujitsu, but looking at Paula Vennells' bonuses might be a good start."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the PM said Downing Street "wouldn't want to see anyone financially benefiting out of this scandal".
Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted due to the Horizon IT scandal.
The architect of the faulty IT system, Gareth Jenkins, gave evidence defending the system in a number of cases.
He is understood to have since demanded immunity before agreeing to appear at the public inquiry, having twice sought a guarantee that any testimony he gives cannot be used against him in a possible prosecution.
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It comes after Ms Vennells said on Tuesday that she will hand back her CBE with immediate effect.
In a written statement, she said: "I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.
"I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.
"I am, however, aware of the calls from sub-postmasters and others to return my CBE.
"I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.
"I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.
"I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded."
Asked about her decision, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We think that is obviously the right decision.
“Our focus continues to be on ensuring all those whose lives were torn apart have swifter access to compensation and justice.”
Ministers have been holding talks with judges, and Fujitsu has been warned it could face a huge compensation bill amid the fallout of the scandal.
The Government is considering ways to overturn the convictions, including possible legislation.
But some of the wronged sub-postmasters want to have their names cleared in the courts and the Post Office held to account, rather than through legislation.
Kevin Hollinrake, the postal affairs minister, previously told the Commons that “options” had been devised to resolve outstanding criminal convictions “much more quickly”.
“We believe we have a solution,” he told MPs, with a further update expected later in the week.
Mr Hollinrake vowed to "leave no stone unturned" amid the growing pressure to quash the convictions and speed up the awarding of compensation to those affected by the IT system error.
"We have devised some options for resolving the outstanding criminal convictions with much more pace," the minister said.
"While the scale of the problem is immense, the Government is unwavering in its resolve to tackle it, to compensate those affected and to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice."
