Publish restorative justice programme by 31 October 2025
Post Office Horizon Inquiry · Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Final Report · Issued 8 July 2025 · Addressed to: Fujitsu, Post Office Ltd, Department for Business and Trade
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
By 31 October 2025, the Department, Fujitsu and the Post Office shall publish, either separately or together, a report outlining any agreed programme of restorative justice and/or any actions taken by that date to produce such a programme. For the avoidance of any doubt, the word Fujitsu in this recommendation is intended to include both Fujitsu Services Limited and Fujitsu Limited.
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, stating that DBT, the Post Office and Fujitsu had jointly embarked on a postmaster-led restorative justice programme facilitated by the Restorative Justice Council (Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1), DBT, 9 October 2025).
- Phase 1 sessions were held in September–October 2025 in Belfast, Glasgow, Cardiff and London (Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report (volume 1), DBT, 9 October 2025).
- The Business and Trade Committee report HC 1598 found that Fujitsu had acknowledged moral responsibility but had made no interim payment and agreed no figure towards the approximately £2 billion total redress cost (Business and Trade Committee, HC 1598, March 2026).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response — verbatim from government
●Department for Business and Trade — initial response
Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. DBT, Post Office, and Fujitsu have jointly embarked on a postmaster-led restorative justice programme facilitated by the Restorative Justice Council. Sessions began on 23 September 2025. A detailed plan and progress update will be published on GOV.UK. For the avoidance of doubt, Fujitsu includes both Fujitsu Services Limited and Fujitsu Limited.
Department for Business and Trade · 9 Oct 2025 Written response →
●Post Office Ltd — follow-up
Today, the Department for Business and Trade, Fujitsu Services Limited and Post Office Limited are publishing the attached joint statement which sets out our plans for our future work on restorative justice. This builds on the listening work that the Restorative Justice Council have conducted and their recommendations, as set out in the attached report which they are also publishing today. We are grateful to those who have shared their experiences of the Horizon Scandal with the Restorative Justice Council and we are now acting, together with the Department and Fujitsu Services Limited, to establish a lasting and meaningful restorative justice programme which is directly informed by the wishes of those who were harmed.
Post Office Ltd · 31 Oct 2025 Written response →
●Fujitsu — follow-up
Enclosed with this letter is a joint statement by Post Office Limited, Fujitsu Services Limited and the Department for Business and Trade in response to Recommendation 19. This joint statement in turn refers to a report prepared by the Restorative Justice Council dated 20 October 2025 (the "RJC Report"). A copy of the RJC Report is enclosed. [...] Given that the pilot restorative justice programme outlined in the joint statement and RJC Report relates to matters solely within the United Kingdom, it is not envisaged that Fujitsu Limited will have any direct involvement.
Fujitsu · 31 Oct 2025 Written response →
●Department for Business and Trade — follow-up
The Department, Fujitsu Services Limited and the Post Office have accepted this recommendation, and this is our joint statement in response. [...] Over the coming months the Department, Fujitsu Services Limited and the Post Office will work together with the Restorative Justice Council to continue to listen to those harmed and ensure postmasters and their desires remain at the heart of the work to establish a practical, funded long-term programme. Plans for that programme will be announced in spring 2026 and are likely to evolve further in the light of experience, and of further understanding of postmasters' views. [...] Alongside developing and commissioning the long-term programme, we will continue to work with the Restorative Justice Council on the pilot of the programme through to March 2026.
Department for Business and Trade · 31 Oct 2025 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 19 Mar 2026 · Department for Business and Trade The government published 'Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: update on restorative justice programme' on 19 March 2026, a policy paper updating on the joint restorative justice programme between the Department for Business and Trade, the Post Office and Fujitsu responding to recommendation 19 of the Inquiry's Final Report Volume 1. Source →
- 2 Mar 2026 DBT, the Post Office and Fujitsu have jointly embarked on a restorative justice project for postmasters, facilitated by the Restorative Justice Council (RJC). All three parties are committed to the programme being postmaster-led. The pilot phase of the programme therefore involved meetings for postmasters facilitated by RJC to identify what postmasters want the programme to deliver. The conclusions of the pilot were published here: https://restorativejustice.org.uk/resources/horizon-project-reportrebuilding-trustthe-step-toward-restorative-future. They will inform the plan for future phases of the programme, which will be published in Spring 2026. 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 found Fujitsu has acknowledged moral responsibility but made no interim payment and agreed no figure towards the approximately £2bn total redress bill. The committee recommended the government seek an urgent interim payment and that Fujitsu extend its moratorium on government contract bidding including subcontracting. View source → Insufficient Progress
- 6 Jan 2026 · Business and Trade Select Committee Business and Trade Select Committee received an update on the restorative justice pilot launched in November 2025 under a joint statement by DBT, Fujitsu and Post Office. The committee noted the pilot as a positive step, while questioning its scope and reach. View source → Good 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.