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The Post Office Inquiry, marred by ongoing disclosure issues, recently witnessed a setback as the testimony of former Post Office lawyer Jarnail Singh was postponed. This delay comes on the heels of the disclosure process’s tumultuous journey, with the organization spending a whopping £24.4 million on external legal contractors for disclosure costs from January 2022 to July 2023.

Ben Foat, Post Office’s general counsel, disclosed that a considerable legal force, comprising 46 lawyers from Herbert Smith Freehills and at least five from Peters & Peters, was dedicated to addressing disclosure and remediation issues. Additionally, nine in-house lawyers were advising the organization on navigating the inquiry.

Despite these extensive resources, the statutory inquiry faces persistent challenges in making all relevant material accessible. Earlier this year, a scheduled two-day hearing for the evidence of former Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins was abruptly postponed. The Post Office’s last-minute notification revealed that 4,767 potentially relevant documents, including one of significant interest, had not been disclosed.

The subsequent postponements of hearings for two crucial witnesses exacerbated the situation. Late-night correspondence from the Post Office explained that internal emails post-2012 could not be traced due to a server change at that time. The total scale of this issue remains unknown, but an estimated 22,000 emails require assessment.

In response to these challenges, Inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams issued a notice threatening criminal sanctions for future non-compliance with disclosure requests. Despite this, the problems persist, with hundreds of documents related to Singh and Jenkins set to be disclosed in the coming days.

For Jenkins, the Post Office has disclosed 3,045 new documents, prolonging the time before he can present his evidence. Williams acknowledged the frustration surrounding these delays but emphasized the crucial need for all relevant documents to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the case.

As the inquiry unfolds, questions arise about the transparency and efficiency of the disclosure process. The staggering disclosure costs, coupled with the challenges faced in accessing crucial information, underscore the complexity of the Post Office scandal and the need for a thorough and meticulous legal examination.

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