Apply full and fair meaning consistently across all schemes
Post Office Horizon Inquiry · Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report · Issued 8 July 2025 · Addressed to: Post Office Ltd, Department for Business and Trade
Government responsePost Office Ltd: Accepted (Oct 2025)Department for Business and Trade: Accepted (Oct 2025)
DeliveryCabinet Office says completed (Mar 2026)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Post Office, the Department and the Minister shall ensure that all decision makers in HSS, GLOS and OCS/HCRS apply the meaning to be given to the words "full and fair" when assessing the amounts to be awarded to individual claimants.
Post Office Horizon Inquiry, Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report · 8 Jul 2025 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry asked that full and fair compensation standards be applied across all redress schemes. In its February 2026 update, published in March 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Post Office Limited had published a joint statement defining full and fair redress to be applied across all schemes (Cabinet Office, Mar 2026). In January 2026, the Business and Trade Select Committee found that while the agreed definition was referenced in guidance, over 4,000 claimants remained unsettled, raising questions about whether it was consistently applied (Business and Trade Select Committee, Jan 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
About this summary
Government response
●Post Office Ltd · Accepted · 9 Oct 2025
Post Office shall ensure that decision makers in the HSS that we administer, including the Independent Assessment Panel, apply the meaning of the words "full and fair" (as set out in our published explanation) when assessing the amounts to be awarded to individual claimants.
●Department for Business and Trade · Accepted · 9 Oct 2025
DBT accepts this recommendation. Both DBT and Post Office have agreed to this definition, and it is referenced in respective scheme guidance, ensuring that decision makers in the different schemes uphold it. The HSS independent person will ensure that this principle is upheld through the assurance they carry out.
Extract from: Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1)
Delivery
●Cabinet Office says completed · 2 Mar 2026
DBT published a joint statement with Post Office explaining what is meant by “full and fair redress” on 9 October 2025. The statement will be applied by the Post Office and DBT in relation to all schemes.
From: Post Office (Horizon) Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, February 2026 (data file)
Published evidence
●Business and Trade Select Committee · 6 Jan 2026
Business and Trade Select Committee found that DBT and Post Office had agreed to the "full and fair" definition and referenced it in scheme guidance. However, over 4,000 claimants remained unsettled, raising questions about consistent application across schemes.
Read the finding in full
Business and Trade Committee held an evidence session on 6 January 2026 with witnesses from Fujitsu, the CCRC, DBT and MoJ. The CCRC revealed Horizon software may have been installed earlier than previously believed, potentially expanding the pool of eligible convictions. Over 4,000 claimants were still awaiting final settlement across all schemes at that date. Government accepted only 3 of 17 committee recommendations in full.Business and Trade Committee evidence session, 6 January 2026View source →
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The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.