What we learned from the Postmaster

All eyes were on Post Office chief executive Nick Read this week as he spent three days facing the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.

Read replaced former boss Paula Vennels in 2019 and was brought in to “right the wrongs of the past”.

The wrongful prosecutions may have stopped, but he still had questions to answer about how much the organization has really changed when he testified.

Mr Read had taken a leave of absence from his job to prepare for the investigation.

Unlike the appearance of her predecessor, Paula Vennells, there were no tears. But there were some key revelations.

Here are five things we learned from their evidence.

It has become clear that, neither by chance nor by design, Mr. Read was unaware of the scale of the challenge facing the Post Office.

Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of deputy postmasters were wrongly prosecuted when faulty Horizon accounting software made it appear that money was missing from branches.

When Mr Read took up the first job in September 2019, the organization had just lost a High Court ruling against a class of wrongfully prosecuted deputy postmasters and was about to lose another .

However, there was no reference to the ongoing legal challenges in his job description. The faulty Horizon computer system was not mentioned once.

In fact, Mr Read was told by the Post Office’s lead lawyer not to “run off” what had happened in the past.

He was even told there was “no big PR risk”. He said the organization was part denial, part paralysis.

As for his predecessors, Read told the inquiry that many of the Post Office’s former leaders “appear not to have been held to account”.

Mr Read’s leadership has been dogged by controversy over his own remuneration. His former HR director claimed he was “obsessed” with getting a raise.

He admitted he had been “frustrated at times”, had repeatedly lobbied for more money and even received legal and PR advice from friends.

Read said it never became a distraction, but apologized for the “poor” look given that so many victims are still waiting for compensation.

Claims about bullying, misogyny and pay had come from people who had left under a cloud, he said.

He even alleged, in his written witness statement, that one of those people, former chairman Henry Staunton, had fallen asleep at board meetings.

New figures released this week show that £363 million has already been paid to former deputy postmasters in financial compensation, but many are still waiting.

Before Read began to testify, the inquest chairman emotionally revealed that another victim died last week without ever receiving the money she was owed.

The Postmaster General said it was his “deep regret” that the process was taking so long. He blamed the bureaucracy, not the prejudices or the pinches.

He said it was “surprising” that it was his organization running some of the schemes, given the lack of trust people have in the Post Office.

Could the Government be using the Post Office as a ‘shield’ to back out of compensation decisions? “That might be a description, yes,” he admitted.

For many deputy postmasters, the continued employment of people who were investigating them or were in the Post Office at the height of the scandal is a point of contention.

Read revealed that three employees are still being investigated as part of Project Phoenix. This means they have been charged with crimes.

He also admitted that a “bunch” of researchers were still with the organization, albeit now in different roles.

The chief executive wanted to reassure the inquiry that he would not ignore specific allegations and would ask people to stand down from the papers if it helped the deputy postmaster’s confidence.

However, when shown meeting notes suggesting ministers were happy for the Post Office to be more robust and not worry about employment tribunals, Read was forced to admit they had struggled to “take the people” of the organization.

“Where did the money go?” It is one of the many, still, unanswered questions of this scandal.

Mr Read was repeatedly questioned about the whereabouts of cash contributed by deputy postmasters to cover apparent shortfalls in their branch accounts. The boss put a new figure on the missing money: £36m.

Mr Read said it bothered him that he was difficult to work with.

He expressed surprise at the survey results which suggest deputy postmasters are still struggling and using their own savings to offset losses.

Meanwhile, investigative lawyers pointed to new deputy postmaster contracts that still refer to the Post Office’s investigative powers, including evidentiary interview processes under caution. Mr Read admitted this could be a “hard way”.

Mr Read’s evidence may now be complete, but he has several months left in the post. He assured the inquiry that he would spend the time working to achieve further changes. Deputy postmasters will be watching closely.