Govt has not done enough to ensure compensation for Post Office Horizon victims, say MPs

The authorities has not done capable to guarantee each victims entitled to compensation from the Post Office ungraded person applied for it, a study has found.

Many existent and erstwhile postmasters affected by Horizon IT failings and associated miscarriages of justness are not yet receiving just and timely compensation, according to the study by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Only 21% of the 18,500 letters the Post Office sent to postmasters to marque them alert of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme had been responded to, figures provided by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) show. About 5,000 further letters are expected to beryllium sent successful 2025.

Under the scheme, existent and erstwhile postmasters who were financially affected by the Horizon IT system, but who were either not convicted oregon did not instrumentality the Post Office to the High Court, tin either settee their assertion for a last fixed sum of £75,000 oregon person it afloat assessed.

There is besides the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS), which is for sub-postmasters who had their convictions quashed aft the passing of the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act past year.

The 800 oregon truthful sub-postmasters who are eligible to assertion nether the HCRS are entitled to a £600,000 afloat and last settlement, oregon the enactment to prosecute a afloat assertion assessment.

By the extremity of March, 339 had accepted the colony sum, the study by the PAC, which is made up of MPs from each sides of the House of Commons, found.

But the PAC study states that the authorities has nary plans to travel up with radical who are, oregon whitethorn be, eligible to assertion but are yet to apply.

The committee recommends that the DBT should outline what much it volition bash to guarantee each affected postmaster is afloat alert of their options for claiming.

A 3rd strategy provides compensation to sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted of fraud, theft and mendacious accounting.

Of the 111 sub-postmasters eligible to assertion for the Overturned Convictions Scheme and who are either entitled to a £600,000 afloat and last settlement, oregon to prosecute a afloat assertion assessment, 25 person not yet submitted a claim, immoderate of whom correspond the astir analyzable cases.

The DBT has taken implicit the absorption of the strategy from the Post Office, and the PAC study recommends that the section should outline however it plans to grip the remaining cases nether the scheme.

Read much connected the Post Office scandal:
Analysis: Redress indispensable not lone beryllium just - it indispensable beryllium fast
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Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, seat of the PAC, said thousands of radical were "deeply failed" by the strategy during "one of the UK's worst ever miscarriages of justice".

He added: "This committee would person hoped to person recovered authorities laser-focused connected ensuring each those eligible were afloat and reasonably compensated for what happened.

"It is profoundly dissatisfactory to find these schemes inactive moving acold excessively slowly, with nary authorities plans to way down the bulk of imaginable claimants who whitethorn not yet beryllium alert of their due entitlements.

"It is wholly unacceptable that those affected by this scandal, immoderate of whom person had to spell done the courts to wide their names, are being forced to relitigate their cases a 2nd time."