Contributions
2,740 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank the hon. Member for raising that troubling case, which I am happy to look into on his behalf, if he would like. I think he said that case was in 2018, since when I feel…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank my hon. Friend for his question. I reassure him that repetition is no barrier to contribution in this place, as he will recognise. I also thank him for his work on the…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank the hon. Lady for her question. She is right that we need to make the compensation schemes and the overturning of convictions swifter and more straightforward, and she is…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work that he has done on this, and I share his ambition on delivering. This has been a great scandal and we need a significant response to…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsMy hon. Friend is right to point out the nature of the public service provided by sub-postmasters. The great passion and the store set by sub-postmasters, such as Jo Hamilton,…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank the hon. Lady for her question and work on behalf of Mr Patel. If Mr Patel’s conviction was overturned in 2020, he should have received £163,000 in interim compensation,…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsIt is tragic to hear about what happened to Mr Singh Butoy; I thank the hon. Gentleman for his work in drawing awareness to that case. As I said, people in these situations want…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank my hon. Friend for all his work as one of my predecessors. He was an excellent postal affairs Minister—for all too brief a time, I think it is fair to say, but he did a…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsThat is exactly what we want to do and that is why we set up the statutory inquiry to try to identify culpability and responsibility. Whether that leads to corporate sanctions, in…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsAlthough it is tragic to hear that anybody has been involved in these kinds of cases, it is good to hear that people are coming forward. Again, one of the added benefits of the…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsThe hon. Lady is absolutely right. These are complex matters, and there are two ends to the compensation journey. One is the compilation of a claim by the claimant, which may…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI agree that accountability is key. I think it is fair to say that my Department has learned lessons on governance. I spend a lot of time meeting the Post Office and, indeed, the…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank my hon. Friend for her question and her work on behalf of Nichola Arch, whose case is one of the most prominent in this scandal. She is right to say that assessing loss is…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank the hon. Gentleman for his words. We should not prejudge the outcome of the inquiry. It is a statutory inquiry, and we should respect the processes it is undertaking. It…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI am sorry to hear what has happened to Mrs Abdeen. I assume that my hon. Friend is talking about the Horizon shortfall scheme, and my officials and I are very happy to work with…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsCertainly in terms of what the hon. Lady regards as the sub-metric—the work of the Post Office contributing towards the inquiry—we accept that should never have been the case. All…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsMy hon. Friend makes a very important point. I engage with the NFSP, Calum Greenhow and others. I think there is a better relationship now between the network and the NFSP, but it…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank the hon. Lady for her question and again pay tribute to the work of the advisory board, including the chair Professor Chris Hodges, Professor Richard Moorhead, Lord…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsMy hon. Friend’s knowledge of history is greater than mine, but the essence of what he says is something we concur with. Whether by means of the route he mentions or other routes,…08 Jan 2024HANSARDHorizon: Compensation and ConvictionsI thank the hon. Gentleman for his points. Yes, as I say, we are keen to exonerate more people more quickly; that is exactly what we intend to do and what we have been looking at…08 Jan 2024