Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Conclusion 3
Eighth Report - Post Office and Horizon - Compensation: interim report
Published 17 Feb 2022
Paragraph 22
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Post Office and Horizon All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We are deeply concerned that, despite the efforts that the Post Office Ltd. (POL) has made to contact them, so few sub-postmasters have approached POL to begin the process of overturning ‘unsafe’ Horizon convictions. POL has conceded that this might be to do with the trauma caused by the Horizon scandal and the Minister accepted that it might also be related to mistrust of POL and the Government. Those directly affected by the scandal and those representing them have also pointed to a clear lack of trust between themselves and POL. If this scandal is to be addressed, it is crucial that all its victims receive justice.
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eighth Report - Post Office and Horizon - Compensation: interim report (HC 1129), paragraph 22, 17 February 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 April 2022 (deadline 17 April 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts several of the Committee's recommendations on transparency and the Historical Shortfall Scheme, but does not propose to set up the recommended new independent body for wrongly convicted postmasters.
- On the 555 group litigants, the government says it "will make funding available" so they are "not financially disadvantaged" by litigating, and will announce the results of informal consultation to Parliament "in the coming weeks".
- On an independent body, it is "concerned that setting up such a body would take significant time". It is instead working with existing bodies such as the CCRC, and has encouraged the Post Office to appoint an intermediary body.
- It "accepts" the recommendation on monthly updates on payments, to be published on the Post Office website, with the range of final settlement amounts released only once "a critical mass of settlements has been reached" for privacy reasons.
- On targets for Historical Shortfall Scheme offers, it accepts the recommendation but suggests BEIS updates on oversight actions "on a quarterly, rather than monthly basis".