Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Paragraph: 48
The involvement of POL in any part of the Scheme is questionable because of the...
Conclusion
The involvement of POL in any part of the Scheme is questionable because of the history of the Horizon scandal. It is worth remembering that a key criticism made of POL at the height of the scandal was that effectively it acted as judge, jury and executioner when deciding on convictions of sub-postmasters.
Paragraph Reference:
48
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government has acted on this issue. The Government announced on 22 March 2022 that it will make funding available to ensure postmasters who took part in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) case are not financially disadvantaged by their decision to litigate against the Post Office. Members of the GLO group will be able to access similar compensation to that available to their non-GLO peers. The Government is consulting informally with affected postmasters on how this compensation should be delivered. The Government will announce the results of those discussions to Parliament in the coming weeks. Prosecuted Sub-postmasters and ‘unsafe’ convictions Recommendation 2: We recommend that the Government urgently set up an independent intermediary body as a trusted first point of contact for those wrongly convicted because of Horizon, in particular for the 576 convicted sub-postmasters who have not yet come forward. The independent body should be appropriately resourced to support these victims to begin the process of overturning convictions and seeking the compensation they are entitled to. POL and BEIS should co-operate fully with this body. It is crucial that, if such a body should be established, it has proper engagement with the sub- postmaster community and their representatives.