Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ex-Post Office chairman Henry Staunton to face question from MPs

Hundreds of employees were caught up in the scandal (Aaron Chown/PA)
Hundreds of employees were caught up in the scandal (Aaron Chown/PA)

Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton is to be brought before MPs to give evidence next week amid an increasingly bitter row with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch.

The Business and Trade Committee said that current Post Office chief executive Nick Read and subpostmasters including Alan Bates will also answer questions on Tuesday February 27.

The parliamentary select committee said the witnesses will update MPs on progress on redress to victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

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.

Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch hit back on Monday by telling MPs Mr Staunton had spread ‘made-up anecdotes’ following his dismissal (PA)

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.

Mr Staunton, who will answer questions on Tuesday afternoon, stepped down from the Post Office amid ongoing tensions last month.

The former WH Smith executive has since been involved in a deepening row with Ms Badenoch after he claimed he had been told to delay payouts to postmasters affected.

Ms Badenoch hit back on Monday by telling MPs he had spread “made-up anecdotes” following his dismissal.

However, on Tuesday morning, ministers faced fresh pressure after allegations a senior civil servant told Mr Staunton not to focus on “long-term issues” and to protect his organisation’s finances.

Mr Staunton is said to have been told during a meeting with Sarah Munby, who was then permanent secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), to “hobble” into the next general election, according to notes reported by the Times.

Next week, MPs will also hear from legal representatives from the Department of Business and Trade administering the group litigation order (GLO) scheme designed to compensate 555 subpostmasters, and lawyers for claimants of this and all other schemes, the Commons said.