Recommendation 21

HM Government Not Addressed

The Government accepts the Committee’s recommendation. The Post Office has increased the capacity of the Independent Advisory Panel to deal with this and are now making good progress. At the 11 January 2002 Select Committee evidence session, Minister Scully set out his ambition that 100% of initial offers will be made to Historical Shortfall Scheme claimants by the end of 2022. At the same Select Committee evidence session noted above, the Post Office Group Chief Executive, Nick Read, made a commitment that the Post Office will have provided initial compensation offers to 95% of claimants by the end of 2022. As of 31 March 2022, compensation offers have been provided to over 50% of claimants and the Post Office is confident it will meet its year-end commitment. The Post Office has published its targets for this year as 50% offers made by the end of March and 95% for the end of the year. They have met the first of these targets and will update their ongoing progress on a monthly basis on their website.16 The response to Recommendation 11 above gives a detailed explanation of BEIS’s ongoing oversight role. Although the Government accepts the Committee’s recommendation to provide an update on actions taken to ensure targets are agreed and met, the Government suggests that this is done on a quarterly, rather than monthly basis. By doing so, BEIS, supported by UKGI, will be able to provide a more rounded update which reflects the full extent of the oversight work taking place during that time, including materials from the quarterly and monthly meetings between BEIS, UKGI and the Post Office.