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In December 2019, the Post Office paid out £58 million to sub-postmasters who were awarded compensation for past false prosecutions of monetary theft that had been based on faulty evidence from the Horizon IT system. 555 claimants were awarded £58m in compensation to be paid by the Post Office, but after costs only £11m was paid out to postmasters, around £20k each to compensate for false prosecutions.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50741916|title=I dreamt of victory against the Post Office | publisher=[[BBC]] | work=[[BBC News]] | location=UK |date=11 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know {{!}} Computer Weekly |url=https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Post-Office-Horizon-scandal-explained-everything-you-need-to-know |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=ComputerWeekly.com |language=en}}</ref> The judge presiding on the case, [[Peter Fraser (judge)|Mr Justice Fraser]], described the Post Office's approach to the case as "institutional obstinacy".
In December 2019, the Post Office paid out £58 million to sub-postmasters who were awarded compensation for past false prosecutions of monetary theft that had been based on faulty evidence from the Horizon IT system. 555 claimants were awarded £58m in compensation to be paid by the Post Office, but after costs only £11m was paid out to postmasters, around £20k each to compensate for false prosecutions.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50741916|title=I dreamt of victory against the Post Office | publisher=[[BBC]] | work=[[BBC News]] | location=UK |date=11 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know {{!}} Computer Weekly |url=https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Post-Office-Horizon-scandal-explained-everything-you-need-to-know |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=ComputerWeekly.com |language=en}}</ref> The judge presiding on the case, [[Peter Fraser (judge)|Mr Justice Fraser]], described the Post Office's approach to the case as "institutional obstinacy".


{{blockquote|That amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.|author=Justice Fraser}}{{cn|date=January 2024}}
{{blockquote|That amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.<ref> paragraph 929 at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/bates-v-post-office-judgment-1.pdf </ref>|author=Justice Fraser}}{{cn|date=January 2024}}


Mid-trial, the Post Office applied to the [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]] for the [[Judicial disqualification|recusement]] of the Judge. On 14 May 2019, the appeal attempt was thrown out, with the Appeal Judges, delivering a "scathing 17 page Judgement" on the Post Office's failed bid to replace Judge Fraser.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cross2019-05-14T11:21:00+01:00 |first=Michael |title=Appeal throws out Post Office bid to replace judge |url=https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/appeal-throws-out-post-office-bid-to-replace-judge/5070293.article |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=Law Gazette |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Walters2019-04-09T15:00:00+01:00 |first=Max |title=Judge dismisses application to recuse himself from Post Office trial |url=https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/judge-dismisses-application-to-recuse-himself-from-post-office-trial-/5069933.article |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=Law Gazette |language=en}}</ref>
Mid-trial, the Post Office applied to the [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]] for the [[Judicial disqualification|recusement]] of the Judge. On 14 May 2019, the appeal attempt was thrown out, with the Appeal Judges, delivering a "scathing 17 page Judgement" on the Post Office's failed bid to replace Judge Fraser.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cross2019-05-14T11:21:00+01:00 |first=Michael |title=Appeal throws out Post Office bid to replace judge |url=https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/appeal-throws-out-post-office-bid-to-replace-judge/5070293.article |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=Law Gazette |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Walters2019-04-09T15:00:00+01:00 |first=Max |title=Judge dismisses application to recuse himself from Post Office trial |url=https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/judge-dismisses-application-to-recuse-himself-from-post-office-trial-/5069933.article |access-date=6 January 2024 |website=Law Gazette |language=en}}</ref>

Revision as of 12:08, 9 January 2024

Paula Vennells
CBE
Vennells in 2016
Born (1959-02-21) 21 February 1959 (age 65)
NationalityBritish
EducationManchester High School for Girls
University of Bradford
OccupationFormer CEO
EmployerPost Office Limited
Known forPost Office scandal

Paula Anne Vennells, CBE (born 21 February 1959)[1] is a British ex-businesswoman and Anglican priest.[2] She was chief executive officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019.

Under her leadership, the Post Office prosecuted sub-postmasters for theft, false accounting and fraud, despite evidence that its Horizon computer system was unreliable and could incorrectly show financial discrepancies. Acting as a private prosecutor, the Post Office repeatedly failed to make full disclosure of known Horizon problems either to defendants or to the courts. This happened in hundreds of cases and, according to the Criminal Cases Review Commission is "the most widespread miscarriage of justice the CCRC has ever seen and represents the biggest single series of wrongful convictions in British legal history".[3]

In 2019, Vennells became chair of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London but in December 2020 left this role early. In April 2021,[4] following the quashing of 39 of the subpostmasters' convictions, she resigned – under pressure – from her duties as an Anglican priest,[5] and from directorships at retailer Dunelm and at supermarket chain Morrisons.[6]

Early life and education

Vennells was born in 1959, and grew up in Denton, Lancashire.[7] Having won a funded place, she was educated at the Manchester High School for Girls, an all-girls private school in Manchester.[7] She then studied Russian and French at the University of Bradford, graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[8][9]

Career

Vennells began her career as a graduate trainee at Unilever in 1981.[7][9] She went on to work for L'Oréal, Dixons Retail, Argos, and Whitbread.[9]

In 2007, she joined the Post Office as group network director.[10] On 1 April 2012, she became its chief executive officer (CEO).[11] During her time as CEO, the Post Office went from losing £120 million a year to making a profit.[12]

In December 2018, she was awarded a CBE in the 2019 New Years honours list for "services to the Post Office and to charity".[13]

In February 2019, it was announced that she would step down from her Post Office role (she was eventually succeeded by Nick Read) and in April that year took over as chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs St Mary's, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's, Charing Cross and the Western Eye Hospital in north-west London. She resigned from this role in 2020.[14][15]

From 2002 to 2005, Vennells trained for Holy Orders on the St Albans and Oxford Ministry Course.[8] She was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2005 and as a priest in 2006.[8] She has served as a non-stipendiary minister at the Church of St Owen, Bromham, in the Diocese of St Albans.[8][16] She was reported to have 'stepped back' from duties in 2021.[17] Her membership of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group was also terminated.[18]

Post Office scandal

Main article: British Post Office scandal

In December 2019, the Post Office paid out £58 million to sub-postmasters who were awarded compensation for past false prosecutions of monetary theft that had been based on faulty evidence from the Horizon IT system. 555 claimants were awarded £58m in compensation to be paid by the Post Office, but after costs only £11m was paid out to postmasters, around £20k each to compensate for false prosecutions.[19][20] The judge presiding on the case, Mr Justice Fraser, described the Post Office's approach to the case as "institutional obstinacy".

That amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.[21]

— Justice Fraser

[citation needed]

Mid-trial, the Post Office applied to the Court of Appeal for the recusement of the Judge. On 14 May 2019, the appeal attempt was thrown out, with the Appeal Judges, delivering a "scathing 17 page Judgement" on the Post Office's failed bid to replace Judge Fraser.[22][23]

Vennells subsequently issued a statement, saying:[24]

I am truly sorry we were unable to find both a solution and a resolution outside of litigation and for the distress this caused.

In January 2020, as the High Court case against the Post Office ended, Vennells's tenure as CEO was strongly criticised by Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot, who said: "The hallmark of Paula Vennells' time as CEO was that she was willing to accept appalling advice from people in her management and legal teams. The consequences of this were far-reaching for the Post Office and devastating for the subpostmasters. However, there seem to have been no consequences for her."[25] He described the behaviour of the Post Office under her leadership as "both cruel and incompetent", and said that "she was faced with a moral choice and she took the wrong one, the one which allowed hundreds of subpostmasters to be falsely accused, humiliated and ruined by the organisation she ran".[26]

In early March 2020, she resigned from her Cabinet Office position.[27][28]

On 19 March 2020, Vennells was criticised in the House of Commons, particularly by Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, who said:[27]

Obviously, as a board member she knew what was going on, including the strategy in the court case and the bugs in the system. What happened? She got a CBE in the new year's honours list for services to the Post Office. That is just rubbing salt into the wounds of these innocent people. There is a case for her having that honour removed, and I would like to know how she got it in the first place when the court case is ongoing. Added to that, she is now chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Again, I would like to know why and what due diligence was done on her as an individual.

In a BBC Panorama programme screened on 8 June 2020, reporter Nick Wallis is seen phoning Vennells, who terminates the call rather than answer his questions. Wallis says "this is one of the biggest frustrations of covering this story ... the consistent refusal of the chief executive and the people at the top to answer serious questions about what has been happening".[29] Vennells had been due to appear before a parliamentary select committee to answer questions about the scandal on 24 March 2020, but this was cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, and MPs' questions were dealt with in writing.[30]

In June 2020, the Criminal Cases Review Commission sent 47 cases in which subpostmasters had been prosecuted to the Court of Appeal as potential miscarriages of justice. The Post Office announced that it was not contesting 44 of them. The cases have been described as the "biggest miscarriage of justice in modern English legal history".[31] On 22 March 2021 a further 42 former subpostmasters had their cases of wrongful prosecution heard in the Court of Appeal, and are also seeking information about the UK government's involvement through the Parliamentary Ombudsman. They are also calling for the government to pay for their £46 million legal bill for their earlier successful court case.[32] During the case, the Post Office's behaviour under Vennells's leadership was described as an instance of "appalling and shameful behaviour".[33]

On 14 June 2020, Vennells's handling of the Post Office scandal and the relationship with her role as a priest were highlighted by the BBC's Sunday morning religious radio programme. A convicted former postmaster called for the Bishop of St Albans to strip Vennells of office, Labour MP Chi Onwurah said she must be held accountable, and journalist Nick Wallis reported "real anger" that Vennells appeared to have been protected by "the establishment" including the Church of England. A statement from the Bishop said that he would consider acting if he received conclusive evidence of her wrongdoing.[34]

As of 28 April 2021, Vennells is no longer listed as a member of the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group, on which she had previously served.[35] Crockford's Clerical Directory shows that from the same year, Vennells no longer holds either a licence or PTO, meaning she no longer has authority to preach or to practise as a priest.[36]

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) discussed concerns about her continuing role in the NHS on 8 July 2020.[26] In October, the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust announced that it would seek external legal advice in reviewing the process that led to her appointment.[31] On 3 December 2020 it was announced that Vennells would step down as chair in April 2021, for personal reasons.[37] On the same day, The Daily Telegraph reported that judges had refused to release a "smoking gun" document, being legal advice given to the Post Office in 2013, that could establish whether it had known for years that its prosecutions of the postmasters had been based upon false evidence.[38]

The former NHS consultant psychiatrist Minh Alexander, who made the original referral to the CQC, said that "the trust reluctantly agreed to commission an external report on her fitness only at a late stage", and speculated that Vennells had subsequently been pressured to resign.[31] Arbuthnot said that emergence of this new evidence suggests that Vennells may be in contempt of Parliament for her responses given at the 2015 inquiry, commenting after her resignation: "Can it be a coincidence that shortly after it became clear that the Post Office lied to Parliament, Paula Vennells announced she was stepping down from the NHS job?"[31]

In April 2021, thirty-nine of the convicted former postmasters had their convictions quashed, with a further twenty-two cases still being investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Earlier in December 2020, the convictions of six other former postmasters were overturned due to wrongful conviction.[39] The executive chairman of the legal firm representing many of the postmasters, Dr Neil Hudgell, said "now Post Office officials must face criminal investigation for maliciously ruining lives by prosecuting innocent people in pursuit of profits", and called for the prime minister to convene a judge-led inquiry.[40]

A few days after the subpostmasters’ convictions were quashed, Vennells agreed to step back from her duties as an associate minister.[41] The Bishop of St Albans, (himself the son of a retired subpostmaster[41]) said that it was "right" that Vennells did so.[42] She also apologised, saying "I am truly sorry for the suffering caused to the 39 subpostmasters as a result of their convictions which were overturned last week". On the same day, she resigned her non-executive directorships at UK supermarket chain Morrisons and furnishings group Dunelm.[43] Sky News quoted a boardroom colleague as saying "there was no way for her to stay on after the ruling – and it's hard to see how she will ever be able to work again". She also resigned as a governor of Bedford School.[44]

On 18 May 2021, the UK government announced that it would put the inquiry into the Post Office scandal onto a statutory footing, enabling it to compel witnesses such as Vennells to testify and to demand access to all relevant documents.[45]

On 22 July 2021, the UK government said that it would make an interim payment of up to £100,000 in compensation to each of the subpostmasters affected in the scandal.[46] On 23 September 2023, the government announced that subpostmasters who have had their convictions on the basis of Horizon evidence overturned would be offered compensation of £600,000 in full and final settlement of their claim.[47]

In January 2024, the Metropolitan Police confirmed their ongoing (launched in 2020) criminal investigation into potential fraud at the Post Office in connection with the prosecution scandal, involving 700 subpostmasters. Two people have been interviewed under caution and are not under arrest.[48][49]

Personal life

Her husband, John Vennells, has been global vice-president at the Switzerland-based international engineering firm ABB; they have two adult children, Luke and Edward.[50]

Honours

In the 2019 New Year Honours, Vennells was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to the Post Office and to charity".[51] Following the successful appeals of sub-postmasters prosecuted and convicted in the Post Office scandal, the Communication Workers Union called for Vennells to be stripped of her CBE honour.[52]

Vennells was played by Lia Williams in a four-part television drama series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, broadcast on ITV in January 2024 and released in its entirety on ITVX. In the days following the broadcast of the first episode, an online petition, on the 38 Degrees[53] website requesting that the Honours Forfeiture Committee revoke her CBE appointment, has received more than 1.1 million signatures. [54]

On 8 January 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said he would "strongly support" the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it decided to look at removing Vennells's CBE appointment. Ultimately, only the reigning British monarch can formally revoke honours, on the advice of the British prime minister.[55][56]

Alan Bates, the leader of the Justice for subpostmasters Alliance has said that he turned down an OBE honour for his campaigning, because Vennells still has hers.[57]

References

  1. ^ Shah, Oliver (17 August 2014). "Part time curate ordained to deliver salvation for Post Office". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  2. ^ Dixon, Hayley (26 April 2021). "Bishop took legal advice on removing former Post Office boss Paula Vennells". The Telegraph. UK. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  3. ^ "The CCRC and Post Office/ Horizon cases". ccrc.gov.uk. Criminal Cases Review Commission. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Trust chair to step down next April". www.imperial.nhs.uk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020.
  5. ^ Dixon, Hayley (26 April 2021). "Bishop took legal advice on removing former Post Office boss Paula Vennells". The Telegraph.
  6. ^ "Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells quits Morrisons and Dunelm boards". TheGuardian.com. 26 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Shah, Oliver (17 August 2014). "Part time curate ordained to deliver salvation for Post Office". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d "Paula Anne Vennells". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  9. ^ a b c Armitstead, Louise (8 December 2013). "Monday interview: Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  10. ^ Higginson, Richard. "Paula Vennells: a profile". Faith in Business. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Our leadership". Post Office. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Post Office Group Chief Executive, Paula Vennells, Awarded Cbe in New Year's Honours List". Mynewsdesk. 28 December 2018. Archived from the original on 10 March 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  13. ^ "New Year Honours list 2019". Gov.UK. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Press release: Three new Cabinet Office Non-Executive Board Members announced". www.gov.uk. UK Government. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Trust chair to step down next April". www.imperial.nhs.uk. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  16. ^ "The Benefice Ministerial Team". Bromham Benefice. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Rev'd Paula Vennells should be removed from the CofE Ethical Investment Advisory Group". 26 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Membership". Church of England.
  19. ^ "I dreamt of victory against the Post Office". BBC News. UK: BBC. 11 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  21. ^ paragraph 929 at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/bates-v-post-office-judgment-1.pdf
  22. ^ Cross2019-05-14T11:21:00+01:00, Michael. "Appeal throws out Post Office bid to replace judge". Law Gazette. Retrieved 6 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Walters2019-04-09T15:00:00+01:00, Max. "Judge dismisses application to recuse himself from Post Office trial". Law Gazette. Retrieved 6 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Glass, Katie. "Victims of the Post Office's sub-postmaster scandal on their decade of hell". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  25. ^ Flinders, Karl (4 June 2020). "MPs' investigation into Post Office Horizon IT scandal bares teeth". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  26. ^ a b Flinders, Karl (22 June 2020). "Care Quality Commission to discuss concerns over Paula Vennells' NHS role". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  27. ^ a b Kevan Jones Commons, 19 March 2020 col. 1224 Horizon Settlement: Future Governance of Post Office Ltd
  28. ^ "Cabinet Office Annual Report 2019–20" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  29. ^ Presenter: Nick Wallis (8 June 2020). "Scandal at the Post Office". Panorama. 26:00 minutes in. BBC. BBC One.
  30. ^ "Post Office & Horizon inquiry launched by BEIS Committee". UK Parliament. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  31. ^ a b c d "Post Office IT scandal CEO Paula Vennells jumps NHS ship as pressure mounts". Computer Weekly. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  32. ^ Flinders, Karl. "Post Office IT scandal executive forced out of job at Football Association of Wales". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  33. ^ Lea, Robert. "Post Office falls to loss after Horizon IT scandal". The Times. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  34. ^ Presenter: William Crawley (14 June 2020). "Post Office IT dispute, Carers week; Places of worship reopening". Sunday. 27:00 minutes in. BBC. BBC Radio 4.
  35. ^ "Membership". Church of England. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  36. ^ "Crockford's Clerical Directory". Church House Publishing. Retrieved 7 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  37. ^ "Trust chair to step down next April". Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  38. ^ "Court blocks release of 'smoking gun' document in Post Office scandal appeal". The Telegraph. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  39. ^ Peachey, Kevin (23 April 2021). "Convicted Post Office workers have names cleared". BBC News. UK: BBC.
  40. ^ "Subpostmasters cleared of convictions". Hudgells Solicitors. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  41. ^ a b PA, Luke Powell; Kay, Jaimie (26 April 2021). "Herts minister 'truly sorry' after dozens of post workers wrongly convicted". Herts Live. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  42. ^ "Ex-Post Office head apologises to workers after convictions quashed". The Guardian. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  43. ^ "Ex-Post Office chief Vennells quits Morrisons and Dunelm boards". Sky News. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  44. ^ "Ex-Post Office chief stands down as Bromham church minister and Bedford School governor". Bedford Independent. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  45. ^ "Post Office scandal inquiry to be bolstered". BBC News. UK: BBC. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  46. ^ "Post Office scandal: Postmasters to get up to £100,000". BBC News. UK: BBC. 22 July 2021.
  47. ^ "Post Office Compensation". Hansard. UK Parliament. 18 September 2023.
  48. ^ "Met Police investigating Post Office scandal". BBC News. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  49. ^ Bugel, Safi (5 January 2024). "Post Office under criminal investigation for potential fraud over Horizon scandal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  50. ^ Ashton, James (31 August 2015). "Paula Vennells interview: Post Office chief banks on financial services in the digital age". The Independent. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  51. ^ "No. 62507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2018. p. N9.
  52. ^ "Ex-Post Office chief should be stripped of CBE over Horizon scandal, union says". Jersey Evening Post. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  53. ^ "Post Office: Petition to strip Paula Vennells of her CBE | Mumsnet". www.mumsnet.com. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  54. ^ "Petition to strip ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells of CBE passes 1m". Yahoo News. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  55. ^ "We will leave 'no stone unturned' for justice, says Post Office minister". BBC News. UK: BBC. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  56. ^ "Having honours taken away (forfeiture)". GOV.UK. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  57. ^ Patrick, Holly (2 January 2024). "Real-life Mr Bates reveals why he turned down OBE for Post Office campaigning". The Independent.
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