How former Post Office boss Paula Vennells could be stripped of her CBE

More than a million people have signed a petition calling for the former Post Office boss to be stripped of her CBE over the Horizon scandal.

During her time as head of the business, Paula Vennells oversaw the Post Office as it denied there were any issues with a faulty IT system, Horizon.

The computer accounting programme made it appear as though money was taken out of the Post Office’s books, leading to the wrongful prosecution of 550 members of staff.

The scandal has been described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Who is Paula Vennells?

Paula Vennells is a former businesswoman who worked as chief executive officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019.

After resigning, she went on to work as associate minister in the Diocese of St Albans. She was also previously director of the board for supermarket Morrisons and homeware retailer Dunelm.

Ms Vennells was awarded a CBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list after leading the Post Office for seven years.

New Year Honours have been awarded on 1 January every year since 1890 and are presented by the reigning monarch.

In 2018, the Post Office said she had been honoured for her part in turning the business from one that “was losing £120m a year to one which is now in profit”.

“She is being recognised for her work on diversity and inclusion at Post Office,” they said. “Her commitment to the social purpose at the heart of the business and her dedication in putting the customer first.”

Can she be stripped of her CBE?

Taking an honour away is called a forfeiture and can only be done if the recipient has done something to damage the honours system’s reputation, according to official Government guidance.

Each case is considered individually by the Forfeiture Committee, set up on an ad hoc basis. Their recommendation is then submitted through the prime minister to the monarch.

In this case, King Charles would have to ultimately approve the forfeiture.

The committee’s current chairperson is Sir Chris Wormald KCB, to whom the petition to strip Ms Vennells of her CBE is addressed.

To consider a case, Sir Chris’s independent committee is not restricted to any criteria. Any forfeiture can be considered if there is enough evidence to suggest “that the retention of an honour would bring the honours system into disrepute”.

Why are there calls for her CBE to be stripped

Demands to remove Ms Vennells’s CBE have reemerged after an ITV drama exploring the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, aired at the start of January.

Related Article

The programme shows how former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies brought up by its IT accounting programme.

During her tenure at the Post Office, the petition claims the business “engaged in a mass cover-up”.

The petition states: “Despite pledging full co-operation initially, Post Office subsequently withheld documents from [an] investigation and Paula Vennells later failed to answer a select committee when challenged on why this documents [sic] had not been produced as requested.”

As early as 2020, there were calls for Ms Vennells to be penalised, with Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot describing the behaviour of the Post Office under her leadership as “both cruel and incompetent”.