Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
1
Recommendation
1st Report - Post Office and Horizon sc…
Accepted in Part
Despite repeated criticism from this Committee, Post Office Ltd is still in charge of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. While the Committee welcomes that the appeals process will be administered by the Department for Business and Trade, swift action must be taken to deal with the thousands of claimants who still …
Government response. The government partially accepted, confirming the Department for Business and Trade will take over the Overturned Convictions scheme from 3 June. For the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), they will decide on taking over administration in Spring 2025 but will ensure …
Department for Business and Trade
2
Recommendation
1st Report - Post Office and Horizon sc…
Accepted in Part
If the Government is not able to do this for all claims in a timely way, Post Office Ltd must in the first instance transfer complex cases—that is, cases that are going through full assessment—for the Department to administer. For claimants who choose to take the fixed sum offer, Post …
Government response. The government partially accepted, confirming the Department for Business and Trade will take over the Overturned Convictions scheme from 3 June. For the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), they will decide on taking over complex cases in Spring 2025 but will …
Department for Business and Trade
5
Recommendation
1st Report - Post Office and Horizon sc…
Accepted in Part
The Committee has learned that it will take around 18 months for the Independent Panel to assess outstanding claims on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. We have also learned that the Post Office are expecting thousands 24 of new cases to come forward. A panel central to the process that assesses …
Government response. The government partially accepted the recommendation, stating the Post Office is increasing Independent Panel resources to reflect the workload and streamlining all parts of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme process, including increasing operational resources, to accelerate redress.
Department for Business and Trade
8
Recommendation
1st Report - Post Office and Horizon sc…
Accepted in Part
Requests for information under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme should only be made where it is deemed reasonable to increase the offer value to claimants, or in the rare instance where there may be reasonable concern about a claim’s basis of calculation. Where redress offers are calculated in-line with indicative bands …
Government response. The government partially accepted the recommendation, agreeing that requests for information (RFIs) aim to increase compensation and will work with the Post Office to ensure they are necessary and handled sensitively, accommodating evidential difficulties. They did not commit to making …
Department for Business and Trade
9
Recommendation
1st Report - Post Office and Horizon sc…
Accepted in Part
The Independent Panel on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme is already backlogged. To keep cases moving, disputed first offers to claimants must not be reassessed by the Independent Panel but instead move straight into external mediation. (Recommendation, Paragraph 36)
Government response. The government partially accepts, agreeing to internal reassessment by the Post Office where possible, aiming for bilateral settlements, with claimants retaining the option for independent mediation if no agreement is reached.
Department for Business and Trade
11
Recommendation
1st Report - Post Office and Horizon sc…
Accepted in Part
The Committee welcomes that the majority of first offers for the Group Litigation Order Scheme will be complete by March 2025. This, however, does not address the time it takes between first offer and final payment. Sub-postmasters have waited long enough. The Government should aim wherever possible to complete Group …
Government response. The government partially accepts, committing to make redress offers for 90% of completed claims within 40 working days and aiming to pay substantial redress to the majority of GLO members by 31 March, but does not commit to binding timeframes …
Department for Business and Trade