Devise redress process for affected family members
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 Department shall devise a process for providing financial redress to close family members of those most adversely affected by Horizon. Such family members shall qualify for such redress only if they themselves, have suffered serious adverse consequences by reason of their family relationship with the person or persons directly affected by Horizon.
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, committing to establishing a new redress scheme for postmasters' close family members who suffered serious personal injuries including mental injuries (Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1), DBT, 9 October 2025).
- The Business and Trade Select Committee heard evidence on progress towards establishing the family redress scheme (Business and Trade Select Committee evidence session, January 2026).
- The Business and Trade Committee report HC 1598 welcomed the creation of a family redress scheme but urged the government to broaden the definition of "close family member" beyond spouses and children (Business and Trade Committee, HC 1598, March 2026).
- No published details of the scheme design, eligibility criteria, or launch date have been identified as of March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●Department for Business and Trade
Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. Some close family members of postmasters suffered serious adverse consequences because of the Horizon scandal. DBT is committed to establishing a redress scheme for close family members who suffered serious injuries by reason of their family relationship with those directly affected. Active engagement with stakeholder groups continues during scheme design.
Department for Business and Trade · 9 Oct 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 2 Mar 2026 Some family members of postmasters suffered gravely because of the Horizon scandal. As set out in the then Minister for Postal Affairs' statement to the House of Commons on 8 July 2025, DBT has committed to establishing a new redress scheme for postmasters' close family members who suffered personal injuries, including mental injuries, as a result of the Horizon scandal. DBT is engaging closely with the Lost Chances for Subpostmasters' Children group, claimants' legal representatives and the Advisory Board. It will continue to seek input from key stakeholders as it designs the scheme and process for assessing claims. Further details of the scheme will be announced in due course. 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 →
- 13 Mar 2026 · Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 HC 1598 welcomed the creation of a family redress scheme but urged the government to broaden the definition of "close family member" beyond spouses and children to include parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews who can demonstrate adverse consequences of the scandal. View source → Reasonable Progress
- 6 Jan 2026 · Business and Trade Select Committee Business and Trade Select Committee heard evidence on redress for close family members of postmasters. DBT committed to establishing a new scheme for family members who suffered personal injury including mental health impacts, though the scheme was not yet operational as of January 2026. View source → Reasonable Progress
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.