Why the payout process for victims of Post Office Horizon IT scandal needs a shake-up: Greg Wright

Sir Wyn said his “strongly-held view” is that the scheme administrators will be “unable to deliver compensation payments to all applicants” by the deadline which had been previously set for August 7 2024.

In his report, the Sir Wyn points to commitments by numerous representatives of the Post Office and Government over a period of nearly three years to provide compensation which is “full and fair”. He said he does not consider there is any valid legal reason why the Government and the Post Office cannot give effect to these commitments.

Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted based on information from the accounting system, which saw workers wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting.

However, in December 2019, a High Court judge ruled that the system contained a number of “bugs, errors and defects” and there was a “material risk” that shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts were in fact caused by it. Since then many subpostmasters have had their criminal convictions overturned.

Responding to Sir Wyn’s comments, Business minister Kevin Hollinrake reaffirmed the Government’s “commitment” that compensation for subpostmasters affected by the Post Office Horizon IT scandal “should be full and fair”.

He told the House of Commons: “The Government is determined to deliver compensation by that date (August 2024), that remains perfectly possible, although challenging. If it seems likely we will not be able to compensate everyone in time, we shall, of course, consider legislation as Sir Wyn recommends, but I want to deliver by that date, not for some legalistic reason but in the interests of postmasters who have waited too long for justice.”

As of April 6 2023, the Post Office had paid out more than £80m across the Historical Shortfall Scheme and the Overturned Historic Convictions Scheme.

The Government paid out an additional £19m in interim compensation under the Group Litigation Scheme by the same date.

Sir Wyn’s call for action and legislative change must not be ignored. He should be enlisted to provide guidance on how legislation could be drafted to reduce the complexity of compensation schemes in relation to scandals such as Horizon IT. The current system is clearly far too sluggish.

By streamlining the compensation process, the Government can provide reassurance that lessons have been learned and deliver a warning to anyone who believes they might be able to stop the wheels of justice from turning.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post