On 26 June 2012 Norman Baker MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for transport wrote to Patrick Troy, the Chief Executive of the BPA Ltd. and sought certain assurances from the him before signing off on Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act. The Act was to come into force on 1st October 2012.
On 3rd July 2012 Patrick Troy replied, giving sufficient assurances which saw Schedule 4 duly enacted along with the rest of the bill.
There is reference in Troy's letter to the contract with London Councils, the terms of which included how the BPA would fund the Independent Appeals Service (IAS), later to become known as POPLA. Troy openly admits that the BPA Ltd. had concerns as to what may happen after the introduction of the IAS and that this may impact on the funding of the scheme, resulting in a delay in handing it over to an independent board of trustees. He begged for, and was apparently granted a whole year in which to get the BPA Ltd's house in order, even though 6 months (by 1st April 2013) should have been more than sufficient time.
The No To Mob have obtained a copies of these letters together with the draft contract between the London Councils and the BPA Ltd. These are attached.
Having watched the debacle that has unfolded at Popla, we at the No To Mob are extremely concerned to find out that more than a year after the draft contract was sent to Norman Baker MP, it remains unsigned (this verified by London Councils on 30th July 2013) despite vast amounts of London Council's resources having been dedicated to the setting up and running of POPLA.
Consequently, if the worst happens and the BPA Ltd discover that they cannot agree to funding the system, they will not be able to fulfill their commitment to hand over the whole of POPLA into independent hands by 1st October 2013, despite their assurances to government.
There are now some serious questions being asked about the true independence of POPLA, and it can be no coincidence that the contract remains unsigned, thereby enabling the BPA Ltd direct access to POPLA through the medium of London Councils.
It is also noteworthy that if POPLA had been placed into independent hands by 1st April 2013, as first envisaged by Norman Baker MP, the whole debacle of coaching by POPLA and London Councils would never have happened.
So the question is: Are London taxpayers going to have to pick up the bill if POPLA fails?
