Paula Vennells confronted on camera over Post Office ‘cover up’ allegations

Former Post Office chief Paula Vennells refused to comment when she was asked by Channel 4 if she’d lied to MPs and if there had been a cover up over the Horizon IT scandal

Post Office bosses raked in almost £20million while the flawed Horizon IT system ripped ex-subpostmasters’ lives apart.

Startling analysis of company accounts reveals five bosses took home nearly £19.4million over 24 years. Today Paula Vennells, who headed the organisation between 2010 and 2019, refused to comment on allegations she’d misled PMs and that the scandal had been covered up.

Ms Vennells faces questions after a secret recording suggested she was aware the flawed software could be accessed remotely and adjusted, despite denying this to MPs. She took home £5.1million during her tenure.

Her successor, Nick Read – who complained about his pay being too low – earns a basic salary of £415,000, and was given a £137,000 bonus in 2022/23. Last year he returned £54,000 that was incorrectly awarded.

The BBC found that before 2012, when the Royal Mail and Post Office were part of the same organisation, three chief executives – John Roberts, Adam Crozier and Dame Moya Greene – made a total of £12.8million.

More than 700 postmasters had their lives ruined after the faulty Horizon system made it look like money was missing from their branches. The Government is under mounting pressure to finally put this right, with public anger rising after ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office aired in January.

Ms Vennells refused to comment as she was confronted by a Channel 4 reporter and asked if she lied to MPs. As she mounted her bike and cycled away she was told there is “a lot of evidence” of a cover-up.

Last week a recording emerged from a meeting on July 2, 2013, appearing to show Ms Vennells and several other Post Office executives were made aware that people could remotely access the Horizon system.

Independent investigators Ian Henderson and Ron Warmington said denying the Horizon faults was both “dangerous” and “stupid”, according to the recording shared with ITV News. And a tape obtained by Channel 4 reveal Post Office chief lawyer Susan Crichton said in 2013: “[Paula] knows about the allegation. She knows we are working on it.”

But in 2015 she told the Business and Skills Committee it wasn’t possible to remotely access the Horizon system. Labour MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the committee, said he was concerned she may have misled Parliament – and said she could be sanctioned if she did.

He said: “We are deeply concerned by the latest revelations regarding the Post Office and will be exploring options for penalising the leadership that presided over the scandal. All options are on the table, including the Commons exercising its powers in relation to contempt of Parliament.”

It comes as the public Inquiry into the scandal resumes this week, with campaigning hero Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster, set to give evidence on Tuesday. Later in the week the former Managing Director of the Post Office David Smith will appear.

Ms Vennells is expected to be hauled before the Inquiry over three days next month – starting on 22 May. In a previous statement she said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.

“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the subpostmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.
“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”