PM would back committee in Post Office honour probe

Rishi Sunak would back the Forfeiture Committee if it considered the case

Rishi Sunak would “strongly support” an honours committee if it looked again at the CBE awarded to former Post Office boss Paula Vennells.

Ms Vennells has been urged to forfeit her honour in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal, which led to the wrongful prosecution of Post Office staff.

The Forfeiture Committee can recommend honours are stripped if a person has brought the system into disrepute.

Ms Vennells has apologised to Post Office staff.

Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister shares the public’s feeling of outrage on this issue. He would strongly support the Forfeiture Committee if it chose to review the case.

“It is a decision for the committee, rather than the government.”

A petition addressed to senior civil servant Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the Forfeiture Committee, calling for Ms Vennells to lose her honour has attracted more than one million signatures.

The committee – which is made up of a Treasury solicitor and four independent members – can submit a recommendation for forfeiture through the prime minister to the King, who is the only person who can annul an honour.

The committee does not give an opinion on whether a person is guilty of a particular act, only on whether the honours system has been brought into disrepute.

An individual can also apply to have their honour voluntarily forfeited.

Paula Vennells stepped down as Post Office chief executive in 2019

Ms Vennells has said previously that she remains “truly sorry for the suffering caused to wrongly prosecuted sub-postmasters and their families”.

She said: “I continue to fully support and focus on co-operating with the [public] inquiry and it would be inappropriate for me to comment further while it remains ongoing.”

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is meeting Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake on Monday to discuss how to help the convicted branch managers clear their names.

MPs will hear a statement from Mr Hollinrake later on Monday when Parliament returns.

Who is Paula Vennells?

Ms Vennells worked for beauty brand L’Oréal and hospitality business Whitbread before moving to the Post Office in 2007.

She started as a group network director, then became managing director in 2010 before being promoted to the position of chief executive in 2012.

She held the top job until February 2019, when she stepped down amid anger over the Horizon scandal. During her tenure, the company repeatedly denied there were problems with its IT system, Horizon.

She took over as chair of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in April of the same year, but later stepped down when a group of Post Office operators won a High Court case in which their convictions were ruled wrongful and Horizon to be at fault. Their ruling was upheld on appeal in 2021.