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The highly anticipated Post Office Inquiry heard from its final witnesses this week, with closing statements due to follow next month before the final report is published next year. The evidence presented throughout the inquiry mainly focused on who knew what and when. Former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells took the stand in May for three days of questioning over what she knew about Horizon IT problems. Despite a great deal of tears and apologies during her testimony, there were few concrete answers provided. Vennells refused to take responsibility for everything that happened underneath her and stated that she had to rely on both internal and external experts. Whilst it remains unclear as to what Vennells knew about Horizon issues, testimony from her and other key witnesses will still provide plenty of food for thought for inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams as he prepares his report.
One key figure in the Post Office scandal was Gareth Jenkins, who held a pivotal role as the senior engineer from Fujitsu. Jenkins helped build the flawed Horizon system and provided expert evidence in several court cases testifying that the system was robust. In July 2013, the Post Office received bombshell legal advice that Jenkins was “in plain breach of his duty as an expert witness.” After this, the Post Office paused its prosecutions and replaced Jenkins as an expert witness. However, key questions remain as to which Fujitsu executives knew about the concerns over Mr. Jenkins’ past evidence. Although Jenkins never appeared as an expert witness in the 2019 Bates v Post Office trial, he provided behind-the-scenes technical support and information to other witnesses and the ongoing inquiry references questions about those who knew of Jenkins’ past evidence.
Several politicians in positions of power were questioned over what they knew about the Post Office scandal. Many of them claimed they were not informed of the true picture by the Post Office executives they met with or by civil servants. Further, people were not in their roles long enough and were not given proper handovers. This lack of stability has caused problems and led to the questioning of the Ministers’ ability to take action. However, campaigners and MPs pleaded with politicians to push the Post Office for answers on Horizon, but the witnesses claimed that there was little more that they could have done.
Finally, the Post Office Inquiry was tasked with investigating the current situation and determining what needs to change to prevent such a scandal from recurring. Currently, Horizon is still in branches with 16 known bugs in the system. The European boss of Fujitsu admitted to being “very worried” about any extension of its use. The new Post Office boss has announced a plan that puts sub-postmasters at the “heart” of the business, reliant on Government funding and subject to potential job cuts and branch closures. Given the potential high cost of replacing Horizon, discussions have taken place between Post Office bosses and the Government, however, Kemi Badenoch has warned that the Post Office will always lose out if it has to compete with the NHS or schools for funding. Sir Wyn and his team have been examining how the Post Office should be run, and even if it is worth saving at all. Although the past is a crucial area of assessment, the future of the Post Office is equally prominent in the pending report
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