Post Office chairman Henry Staunton ousted amid row with government
The chairman of the Post Office is being forced out of the role amid frustration in Whitehall over the state-owned company’s governance as it reels from the Horizon IT scandal.
Sky News has learnt that Henry Staunton, who only became chairman of the Post Office in December 2022 after a long career in FTSE boardrooms, was this weekend told by Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, that he was to be replaced amid mounting tension with the government.
Sources said this weekend that Ms Badenoch had notified him of the decision in a telephone call on Saturday afternoon.
The hunt for a new chairman will come as the government tries to force through legislation that will more quickly compensate hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted over the faulty software which triggered Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice.
One insider said there had been several sources of tension between the Post Office chairman and the government in recent months.
Among them, they said, was a row over the prospective appointment of a new senior independent director to replace Ben Tidswell, who is due to step down in the coming months.
Mr Staunton and a number of colleagues are said to have been keen for Andrew Darfoor, a former financial services executive who is one of the company’s existing non-executive directors, to take the position.
However, the government is understood to want to appoint a Whitehall insider to the role as it looks to strengthen the Post Office’s corporate governance.
Tensions also arose last year over the mistaken payment of bonuses to Nick Read, the chief executive, which were linked to its cooperation with the Horizon inquiry.
Insiders said, however, that Mr Staunton’s exit was not directly related to the Horizon scandal itself.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “The Post Office is rightfully under a heightened level of scrutiny at this time.
“With that in mind, I felt there was a need for new leadership, and we have parted ways with mutual consent.”
A government spokesperson said: “In a phone call earlier today, the secretary of state for business and trade and Henry Staunton, chair of Post Office Limited (POL), agreed to part ways by mutual consent.
“An interim will be appointed shortly and a recruitment process for a new chair will be launched in due course, in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.”
Mr Staunton could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
The government’s shareholding in Post Office Limited is managed by UK Government Investments (UKGI), which is also responsible for the public’s stakes in Channel 4, the Met Office and other state-owned companies.
The Post Office relies on government funding to operate, and has been struggling in recent years amid tougher competition across the sectors in which it operates.
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Former sub-postmaster exonerated
Mr Staunton previously chaired Phoenix Group, the insurance company, and WH Smith, the high street retailer.
His executive career included a stint at ITV, while he held other boardroom seats at companies such as BSkyB – which was the listed company that owns Sky News – and Ladbrokes.
The decision to replace him comes as the government tries to exert a firmer grip on the fallout from the Horizon crisis, with Rishi Sunak pledging new laws to “swiftly exonerate and compensate” those affected.
“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own,” the prime minister told MPs earlier this month.
“The victims must get justice and compensation. Sir Wyn Williams’ inquiry is undertaking crucial work to undo, to expose what went wrong, and we’ve paid almost £150m in compensation to over 2,500 victims.”
The eventual bill is expected to total in the region of £1.5bn, although more victims of the Horizon scandal have continued to come forward since the broadcasting of an ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
Sky News revealed earlier this month that Ms Badenoch was seeking urgent talks with Fujitsu to thrash out a compensation package for sub-postmasters affected by the scandal.
Ms Badenoch wrote to Takahito Tokita, the Japanese company’s chief executive, in the wake of an acknowledgement from Fujitsu bosses that it had a “moral obligation” to contribute to the compensation bill.
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Boss of Fujitsu in Europe ‘sorry for our part’ in scandal
“As you may know, my department is at the forefront of our government’s efforts to right the wrongs of the past,” Ms Badenoch wrote earlier this month.
“I am committed to ensuring that postmasters affected get the justice they deserve.
“This is why the UK government announced new legislation… to overturn wrongful convictions and a plan to ensure swifter access to compensation.”
The latest shake-up of the Post Office’s leadership comes in the same month that Paula Vennells, its former chief executive, surrendered her CBE after growing public and political pressure.
Kevin Hollinrake, the postal affairs minister, has said he would support prosecutions of those involved in the scandal and its cover-up.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch will appear on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, which starts at 8.30am tomorrow.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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