Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has agreed to hand back her CBE “immediately” following the fallout over the Horizon scandal, but there are also calls for her to repay her bonuses.
The former chief executive earned more than £4.5 million in pay over the seven years she headed up the Post Office, of which £2.2 million was performance related pay.
The Post Office scandal, which has been brought to the fore again thanks to the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, led to the convictions of hundreds of sub-postmasters as a result of faulty IT software.
Ms Vennells ran the Post Office from 2012 to 2019 while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system. The former parish vicar was appointed a CBE in December 2018.
More than one million people have signed a petition calling for her to be stripped of the honour.
It comes after demands for her to return the honour intensified after an ITV drama returned the widespread miscarriage of justice to the spotlight.
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Ms Vennells said in a statement: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.
“I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.
“I am, however, aware of the calls from sub-postmasters and others to return my CBE. I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.”
She continued: “I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.
“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”
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