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The chief executive of the Post Office has said previous leaders may not have been “held to account” for being aware of problems with the Horizon IT system.
Nick Read has been giving evidence at the long-running inquiry into faults with the system which sparked the wrongful prosecutions of hundreds of postmasters.
Mr Read, who is due to step down from his role in March next year, said: “I think one of the themes that has emerged amongst colleagues still working within the organisation is that many of the leaders historically who have appeared before this inquiry appear not to have been held to account, if in indeed they were aware of and understood other issues associated with Horizon in the past.”
Former chief executive Paula Vennells is one of the senior members to have given evidence at the inquiry, during which she apologised to postmasters but denied there was a conspiracy to cover up the Horizon scandal.
The scandal saw more than 900 subpostmasters prosecuted for stealing, based on incorrect information from an IT system known as Horizon.
A long-running inquiry into the issue has been gathering evidence of the failings of the system at the Post Office, after the convictions of hundreds of postmasters were quashed earlier this year.
The Post Office continues to use the system despite heavy criticism over the issues.
Thousands of Post Office subpostmasters said they have still witnessed unexplained problems with Horizon over the past four years, according to a recent survey.
Elsewhere in the inquiry on Thursday, Mr Read said he was “surprised” at the “scale” of interest from the police, after learning that 33 investigations into branches were being carried out in June this year.
The current boss was asked about the organisation’s response to the fact that 22 police forces were investigating Post Office branches.
Mr Nick Read said: “I think there was some surprise at the scale of requests in terms of the 22 law enforcement agencies and the 33 requests.”
He also said that the Post Office should not be involved in the compensation schemes for wronged postmasters. He admitted: “There was always going to be difficulty with the Post Office administering compensation because of the level and trust and confidence that many of the victims will have with the Post Office.”
The inquiry also heard on Thursday that then-government minister Kevin Hollinrake told Mr Read in February this year that he hoped former Post Office Henry Staunton would be “discredited”.
Mr Staunton and Mr Read have often been at odds with each other in their evidence both to the business select committee and to the Post Office inquiry.
Mr Staunton was sacked by Business secretary Kemi Badenoch in January 2024. He appeared before MPs on 27th Febuary 2024, in which he claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign.
He also claimed that a bullying inquiry was ongoing into Nick Read. Mr Read has now said that an inquiry into any misconduct has exonerated him.
Mr Read told the inquiry on Thursday that postmasters could take confidence from his misconduct investigation as it showed that “no one is above the law in the Post Office”.
“None of the allegations, I may hasten to add, were upheld. But colleagues would have taken confidence that it was possible to investigate the chief executive and the chairman,” he said.
Mr Read is due to give his final day of evidence on Friday.
