Post Office bosses told to repay mistaken bonuses

Post Office bosses person been asked to repay bonuses wrongly paid for completing an enquiry into a ungraded that saw hundreds unfairly prosecuted.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were convicted owed to accounting errors caused by the faulty Horizon IT system.

The Post Office yearly study incorrectly said the enquiry president had approved the payments.

Business prime committee seat Darren Jones said each the inquiry-related bonuses should beryllium returned.

Post Office main enforcement Nick Read apologised to MPs connected the Business and Trade Select Committee for the error, explaining that the enquiry was primitively intended to instrumentality conscionable 4 months.

It past became a statutory enquiry which would instrumentality acold longer, and would not beryllium completed successful clip to trigger the bonuses.

Members of the Post Office's remuneration committee, which oversees bonuses, utilized their discretion to wage the bonuses anyhow aft debating "long and hard", its erstwhile seat Lisa Harrington told MPs.

She said a study from an autarkic instrumentality steadfast was capable to springiness them "confidence the enquiry was being supported".

However, the reasons for awarding the bonuses were not recorded successful the minutes, a information which existent remuneration committee seat Amanda Burton described arsenic "extremely unfortunate".

And erstwhile the Post Office's yearly study for 2021-22 was published, it said the people of finishing the enquiry had been "achieved" with "confirmation from Sir Wyn Williams," the enquiry president - which was wrong.

"Nobody picked up connected the wording needing to beryllium updated," Ms Harrington said.

It was "baffling" however truthful galore radical missed it, Post Office president Henry Staunton said.

Business committee seat Darren Jones asked: "Many of the victims of the ungraded volition beryllium looking contiguous and proceeding your apologies and saying they weren't allowed to apologise for thing that turned retired to not beryllium their fault, what are the consequences for immoderate of you?"

Chief enforcement Nick Read replied: "I bash deliberation it was a mistake, I don't deliberation determination was thing dishonest."

Former sub-postmaster Chris Trousdale was conscionable 19 erstwhile helium was convicted for accounting irregularities astatine his station bureau successful the Yorkshire colony of Lealholm. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic accent upset arsenic a effect of the ordeal.

After watching the prime committee testimony, helium said: "I deliberation the bonus payments are conscionable portion of a wider culture. We request autarkic bodies to measurement successful and look astatine these things. It's mindboggling.

"And the trauma and the added distress that is being added connected to the victims erstwhile they ticker things similar this is incomprehensible. It is truly hard to perceive to."

Mr Read said that 30 retired of 34 managers had returned the information of their bonuses awarded for gathering the people of "inquiry support", which is 1 of 4 inquiry-related targets. He personally had paid backmost £7,000 retired of a bonus bundle worthy £455,000, helium said.

Mr Jones said helium felt that this was not sufficient, and called connected managers to repay the full information of their bonuses that related to the Horizon Inquiry.