Apply best offer principle equally in GLOS
Post Office Horizon Inquiry · Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Final Report · Issued 8 July 2025 · Addressed to: Department for Business and Trade
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The "best offer" principle which will apply in HSSA, as explained in response to Recommendation 10, shall be equally applicable in GLOS.
Post Office Horizon Inquiry, Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Final Report · 8 Jul 2025 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Department for Business and Trade accepted this recommendation on 9 October 2025, confirming the "best offer" principle applies equally across GLO, HSSA and HCRS schemes at all panel stages since 12 August 2025 (Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1), DBT, 9 October 2025).
- The Department announced it would implement this change retrospectively, with any postmaster who received a binding second panel award lower than their final DBT offer receiving a top-up payment (Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1), DBT, 9 October 2025).
- The Business and Trade Select Committee noted DBT committed to applying the "best offer" principle retrospectively across all three schemes (Business and Trade Select Committee evidence session, January 2026).
Response — verbatim from government
●Department for Business and Trade
Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. The "best offer" principle applies equally across GLO, HSSA, and HCRS schemes at all panel stages. This has been in effect since 12 August. DBT will retrospectively top up awards in cases where binding second panel decisions fell below final DBT offers.
Department for Business and Trade · 9 Oct 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 2 Mar 2026 The Department announced on 8 July 2025 that DBT would adopt a best offer principle at panel stage on the GLO, HSSA and HCRS schemes. DBT consulted the Advisory Board, Sir Ross Cranston and claimants' legal representatives. DBT has been implementing the policy at all panel stages, and per head of loss, since 12 August 2025. Source →
- 31 Jan 2026 Verification: Government published formal response to Volume 1 recommendations on 13 October 2025, accepting 17 of 18 recommendations. Total compensation paid across all schemes: £1.38 billion as of December 2025. Volume 2 of Final Report expected 2026. Source →
- 6 Jan 2026 · Business and Trade Select Committee Business and Trade Select Committee noted DBT committed to applying the "best offer" principle retrospectively across GLO, HSSA and HCRS, including to awards already made. View source → Confirmed Completed
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.