The Department for Business and Trade has said it will explore the Horizon Inquiry’s call for the creation of a public body to help provide financial redress to those wronged by the state.
More than 700 subpostmasters were convicted of theft, false accounting and fraud in the 15 years following the introduction of the Horizon IT system, produced by Fujitsu subsidiary ICL Pathway, in 1999. Hundreds more have faced accusations of wrongdoing. A total of 236 people were sent to jail because of Horizon.
The first phase of the inquiry into the Post Office scandal recommended that the government, as soon as is reasonably practicable, should “establish a standing public body which shall, when called upon to do so, devise, administer and deliver schemes for providing financial redress to persons who have been wronged by public bodies”.
In its response, published yesterday, DBT said it “sees clear advantages of the recommendation but recognises that options to improve future delivery of redress will need to be carefully considered and the feasibility of an independent body will need to be properly explored, alongside existing mechanisms”.
It said the minister responsible for postal services, Blair McDougall – who replaced Gareth Thomas in the role in last month’s reshuffle – will chair a ministerial group to lead this work.
“While it is unlikely that an independent body could be established in time to take over delivery of redress for existing time-limited redress schemes, the government is actively considering its options and will make a substantive statement on this matter by summer 2026,” the department added.
The department has accepted 17 of phase one's 19 recommendations, rejecting one and acknowledging the aforementioned public body recommendation.
Accepted recommendations include: funding legal advice for appeals for those affected by the scandal, including for those who have previously settled for fixed sums; a new appeals process for those who have accepted fixed-sum offers under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme; and making a public announcement explaining what is meant by the phrase “full and fair financial redress” – which the department has now done.
DBT said it has rejected the recommendation to close the HSS Dispute Resolution Process as, instead, "victims themselves will be able to decide whether they would like to remain in the HSS or proceed to the HSS Appeals Process".