Top official in Post Office row breaks silence on compensation delay claims

21 February 2024 , 17:32

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Sarah Munby has hit back at claims by ex-Post Office chief Henry Staunton (Image: Gov.UK)

The top official at the heart of an extraordinary row with the former Post Office chief has hit back at claims she ordered him to slow down compensation for postmasters.

Senior civil servant Sarah Munby has been accused of telling Henry Staunton not to focus on "long-term issues" and ordering him to "hobble" into the next election. It comes after ex-chairman Mr Staunton claimed he was told to "go slow" on awarding compensation to postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal including Alan Bates.

But in a response published today she wrote: "It is not true that I made any instruction, either explicitly or implicitly, to Mr Staunton to in anyway delay compensation payments. I did not."

Pressure is mounting on the Government to give a full account of what happened after Mr Staunton - who was accused of lying by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch - released a memo he says backs up his claim. He claims Ms Munby, who was then permanent secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), advised not to "rip off the band aid" in terms of the Post Office's finances.

During the meeting in January last year, the top official allegedly warned him that “politicians do not necessarily like to confront reality”. He also said he'd been told “now was not the time for dealing with long-term issues”.

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Henry Staunton claims he was ordered to delay compensation payments

Ms Munby responded: "Neither Mr Staunton’s note, nor the contemporaneous note that my office made, suggest otherwise. In fact, no mention of delaying compensation appears in either note."

Although it doesn't specifically refer to compensation for Horizon scandal victims, Mr Staunton told The Times he believes this is its meaning. Ms Munby said her recollection of the discussion was very different, claiming she'd told the Post Office chief that branch closures or higher Government funding - which he'd suggested - were "likely to be politically very difficult".

She added that the compensation fund was kept separate from the Post Office's day-to-day budgets. Because of this, Ms Munby said, Mr Staunton's interpretation "does not make sense".

The civil servant's response came hours after a tense PMQs session during which Rishi Sunak twice refused to repeat Ms Badenoch's claim that Mr Staunton had lied. The PM was urged by Keir Starmer to open an investigation into the former Post Office chief's allegations.

And the Lib Dems have called on ethics advisor Sir Laurie Magnus to investigate. In a letter to Sir Laurie, deputy leader Daisy Cooper wrote: "Given that Mr Staunton continues to stand by his allegations, there is a clear question as to who is telling the truth and whether Kemi Badenoch has knowingly misled Parliament. It is clearly in the public interest for the facts of this important matter to be determined.

"In your role as Ethics Adviser, I urge you to open an investigation into this matter and accordingly determine whether or not a breach of the Code has been committed by the Secretary of State."

Following his allegation that he was ordered to stall until after the election, Ms Badenoch hit back on Monday by telling MPs he had spread "made-up anecdotes" following his dismissal.

The Horizon IT scandal saw more than 700 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu's faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches. Hundreds of subpostmasters and subpostmistresses are still awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

Dave Burke