Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Recommendation 18
Eighth Report - Post Office and Horizon - Compensation: interim report
Published 17 Feb 2022
Paragraph 49
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We recommend that that the Government in consultation with POL set out the reasons for involving POL in assessing claims, how this was discussed with stakeholders and how they dealt with any concerns stakeholders may have raised regarding POL’s involvement. We also recommend that POL set out what steps have been taken to ensure independence, including how robust challenge is achieved and the numbers of initial recommendations rejected or amended by the Independent Panel. We further recommend that Government explains how BEIS and UKGI are providing oversight of the Scheme with practical examples of how, if at all, it has intervened to ensure independence.
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eighth Report - Post Office and Horizon - Compensation: interim report (HC 1129), paragraph 49, 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".