Theresa May's government 'pushed through' with Paula Vennells' CBE despite Horizon concerns
13 January 2024, 23:36 | Updated: 14 January 2024, 07:15
Theresa May’s government pushed through a CBE for ex-Post Office CEO Paula Vennells even though concerns were raised on the honours committee due to the Horizon scandal.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Sir Ian Cheshire chaired the sub-committee that recommended Ms Vennells for the honour.
Ms Vennells was nominated by the Department for Business, according to sources. And her name was discussed by the main honours committee in October 2018, chaired by Sir Jonathan Stephens.
The then business secretary, Greg Clark, was not involved.
At least one member of the main honours committee questioned the decision to give Ms Vennells a CBE and referred to the increasing controversy about the Post Office’s mistreatment of subpostmasters.
They pointed out that Ms Vennells was still in her CEO role during the scandal.
Reportedly, Mr Cheshire "brushed aside" these concerns and Mr Stephens did not take them up.
Another source who knew of the exchange said that the responsibility for flagging concerns to committee members was for the "sponsoring department", the Department for Business in this instance.
Mr Cheshire denied he brushed those concerns, according to a source close to the man.
In 2019, Ms Vennells was named CBE in the New Year honour list.
In February of that year, she announced she was stepping down from her position at the Post Office and was appointed a non-executive director at the Cabinet Office.
Ms Vennells has now handed back her CBE.
Read more: Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells was 'shortlisted to be Bishop of London'
Now, the Post Office faces a £100m bill and insolvency after it claimed a tax break for compensation payments made to sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal.
Dan Neidle, who is the head of non-profit organisation Tax Policy Associates, claims the Post Office wrongly applied for relief on the £934m damages provision.
According to Mr Neidle, deductions cannot be for "unlawful" activities, telling LBC: "If you do something illegal, the expenses of doing the illegal thing are not tax deductible.
"That compensation should not have been written off against their tax.”
Top tax lawyer breaks down Post Office's difficult scheme
The Horizon scandal has been thrust back into the limelight after ITV's drama 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office' aired last week.
It told how hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted of stealing money from the Post Office, who relied on evidence from Fujistu's dodgy Horizon system.
Read More: 'Ultimate deterrent': Post Office minister wants to see people jailed over Horizon IT scandal
Thousands more Post Office managers were made to pay back cash that had disappeared from the dodgy accounting system.
Mr Neidle said he had dug through Post Office accounts and found they had crested a provision in the accounts for compensation that was made to the postmasters.
- Bonuses have been paid to the executive team based on an apparent level of profitability which does not exist.
— Dan Neidle (@DanNeidle) January 12, 2024
He wrote on Twitter: "The Post Office has boasted about finally making a trading profit. Our findings show that it has in fact made a very substantial loss."
"Bonuses have been paid to the executive team based on an apparent level of profitability which does not exist," he added.
“The disclosed information on taxation in Post Office’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23, published on December 2022, is appropriate and accurate. Discussions with HMRC and the Department of Business continue,” a spokesperson for the Post Office said.
