A former business minister has accused the government department responsible for the Post Office of losing objectivity while handling inquiries from MPs regarding the Horizon computer system scandal. During a recent public inquiry hearing, Conservative peer Lucy Neville-Rolfe shared her experiences from when she oversaw the Post Office in 2015/16. She mentioned that civil servants from the department, formerly known as Shareholder Executive (ShEx) and now UK Government Investments (UKGI), failed to provide satisfactory answers to her questions about the Horizon scandal. Neville-Rolfe stated that the department sided too much with the Post Office, and that they relied on information directly from the Post Office instead of investigating claims independently.
She also expressed her concerns about the lack of objectivity and impartiality in the advice provided by ShEx, mentioning that she noticed a pattern of repeated responses and resistance to alternative perspectives. Neville-Rolfe requested senior official support from outside the department but did not receive it. She accused ShEx of having a bias towards the Post Office and stated that there were collaborations between ShEx officials and Post Office executives that could have influenced the objectivity of the information presented to ministers.
Neville-Rolfe pointed out that many ShEx civil servants came from commercial backgrounds, which may have affected their ability to prioritize public service values over commercial interests. She, along with other former ministers, highlighted the need for civil servants to maintain a mindset of public service even when dealing with commercial matters. The Post Office scandal, which was first brought to light by Computer Weekly in 2009, has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.