Grant appropriate powers to HSS senior lawyer
Post Office Horizon Inquiry · Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report · Issued 8 July 2025 · Addressed to: Department for Business and Trade
Government responseDepartment for Business and Trade: Accepted (Oct 2025)
DeliveryCabinet Office says completed (Mar 2026)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The appointed person shall be given appropriate powers to ensure that these tasks can be performed and carried into effect. If it is considered necessary by the appointing authority, it should consult with the Advisory Board, Dentons, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, Sir Ross Cranston and an appropriate number of claimants' representatives (as well as its own advisors) before determining the appropriate powers.
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 recommended granting appropriate powers to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme senior lawyer. In a February 2026 update, the Cabinet Office reported that full details on the scope of the role had been published following consultation with Sir Ross Cranston, the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, Dentons, claimants' legal representatives and the Post Office (Cabinet Office, Mar 2026). In March 2026, the Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 found that despite powers being granted to the senior lawyer, fully assessed scheme offers remained routinely undervalued, with major disparities between initial offers and eventual awards (Business and Trade Committee HC 1598, Mar 2026). The committee reported that thousands of claimants were still awaiting settlement and recommended transferring remaining cases to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) (Business and Trade Committee HC 1598, Mar 2026).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Government response
●Department for Business and Trade · Accepted · 9 Oct 2025
DBT agrees that the appropriate powers should be given to the appointed person. DBT will consult Sir Ross Cranston, the Advisory Board, Dentons, claimants’ legal representatives and the Post Office to ensure that the appointee has the relevant powers to undertake the role successfully.
Extract from: Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1)
Delivery
●Cabinet Office says completed · 2 Mar 2026
Full details on the scope of the role of the Independent Senior Lawyer have been published on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/horizon-shortfall-scheme-independent-senior-lawyer-scope-of-work/horizon-shortfall-scheme-independent-senior-lawyer-scope-of-work The document reflects consultation with Sir Ross Cranston, the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, Dentons, claimants’ legal representatives and the Post Office.
From: Post Office (Horizon) Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, February 2026 (data file)
Published evidence
●Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 · 13 Mar 2026
HC 1598 found that despite powers being granted to the HSS senior lawyer, fully-assessed HSS offers remain routinely undervalued with major disparities between initial HSS offers and eventual HSSA awards. The committee concluded the HSS is "broken" for complex claims and recommended transferring remaining cases to DBT.
Read the finding in full
Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 (13 March 2026) examined redress delivery one year on. Key findings: £1.44bn paid to 11,300+ claimants but thousands still waiting. HSS takes 143 days average for fixed-sum offers (target: 30 days) and 450 days for assessed claims (target: 180 days). Total redress bill now approximately £2bn. Fujitsu has contributed nothing. Committee made 29 formal conclusions and recommendations across redress schemes, quashed convictions, Fujitsu contribution, and pre-Horizon (Capture) IT system concerns.Post Office Horizon scandal: Justice for sub-postmasters (HC 1598, 13 March 2026)View source →
●Business and Trade Select Committee · 6 Jan 2026
Business and Trade Select Committee questioned what powers had been conferred on the HSS Senior Lawyer to ensure fair first offers. DBT stated it was consulting stakeholders on the appropriate powers.
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 →
How this page is built
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.