We have all read with horror the revelations that continue to emerge daily about the Post-Office-Horizon scandal. The stories of how so many people had their lives destroyed are heart-breaking to read and at least four people ended their lives by suicide because of it.
But I want to focus today on another aspect that I was unaware of until recently.
The very well paid executives at the top of the Post Office continued to take huge bonuses as the lives of their staff were ruined – in the 21/22 financial year about £1.6m in bonus payments were made to executives.
Executive Bonuses
The Horizon scandal is the subject of an inquiry led by the retired high court judge Sir Wyn Williams, which was made statutory in 2021.
It transpires the progress of the Horizon inquiry was one of four metrics on which bonus payments were awarded in the financial year 21/22. The 21/22 financial accounts for the Post Office said its executives had met all their obligations to support the inquiry into the system. Yes, you read that right. Paid a bonus based on doing their job supplying assistance to the inquiry which only existed due to the appalling incompetence of Post Office Executives over the last 20 years or so.
CEO Nick Read explained how this had been designed to motivate senior figures:
“Rather than just be transparent and open with the independent inquiry, I wanted people to go above and beyond,” he said.
In 21/22 this part of the bonus paid out in full to 50 of the most senior Post Office Executives. Don’t forget that this is UK taxpayers money – we fund the Post Office.
Huge Bonuses ‘A Mistake’
It gets worse.
The bonus was triggered to pay out if the Post Office provided all “evidence and information” needed to enable the Horizon IT inquiry to “finish in line with expectations”.
But the inquiry hadn’t concluded and is still taking place. Post Office executives said inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams had approved bonuses relating to the support given to his inquiry. It turned out he hadn’t. The bonus shouldn’t have been paid.
When this came to light, Post Office Executive, Remuneration Committee Chair Lisa Harrington, who signed off on the bonuses, apologised “unreservedly” for what the company described as a mistake.
So, the CEO and other executives took money based on false claims, but they apologised for this ‘mistake’. If you have a bit of time, it is well worth watching them squirming when they were dragged in front of the Select Committee earlier this year, tying to justify this.
Oh, the irony that they took money that they shouldn’t have done and were allowed to just apologise for it. And yet the many postmasters and postmistresses weren’t given the opportunity to apologise even though they had nothing to say sorry for – but were taken through the courts.
Post Office CEO Nick Read
For the financial year 21/22, Post Office CEO Nick Read, in addition to his large basic salary was paid a total bonus of £455,000, with £54,400 related to the inquiry.
Like others in the Post Office he was very clear that this was a simple mistake and there had been no impropriety.
In 2023, after being put under pressure for this following his woeful performance in front of the Select Committee, Read initially agreed to pay back £13,600 which was a part of the £54,400 related to the inquiry. Later, he agreed to pay the whole £54,400 back.
Some of his colleagues paid a part of their bonus back. Others didn’t.
This repayment is something I guess, but wouldn’t you expect the people running the Post Office to immediately pay back every penny as soon as the ‘mistake’ came to light?
Doing the Right Thing
Business and Trade Committee Chair Darren Jones said he was “pleased” that Read had decided to return all of the bonus payments.
“However, the Post Office is still failing to recognise that the entire bonus scheme as it related to the statutory inquiry was wrong. Following my repeated requests, I’m pleased that the CEO of the Post Office has decided to return all of the bonus payments he received in respect of the statutory inquiry into the Post Office-Horizon scandal. The Post Office’s engagement with a statutory public inquiry should never have needed bonus incentives for senior executives to do their day job, for which they are already paid.” He called for 100% of the bonus payments to be returned by all senior executives and asked them “to apologise for the morally bankrupt bonus scheme having ever existed in the first place”.
Nick Read is still CEO and other executives who took the bonus are still in position.
What an utter shambles the leadership of the Post Office has been for many years and clearly still is. And yet they have been paid handsomely for their continuing failures, whilst so many of their employees saw their lives ruined.
And for those at Board level, it seems that is is perfectly fine that they take huge bonuses based on false information. When this comes to light, they can say this was all a mistake and to merely apologise makes it ok.
So that’s alright then.