Government commits at least £540m to financial redress for wrongfully convicted Post Office staff | Computer Weekly
The government is calling for wrongly convicted subpostmasters to come forward to seek financial redress after committing to pay at least half a billion pounds through its latest compensation scheme for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
About 900 people are estimated to be eligible for at least £600,000, with many entitled to much higher payments. Average settlements for wrongly convicted victims of the scandal so far have been well over £600,000.
Fewer than 200 have come forward, but the government hopes the scheme will encourage more to do so. The first tranche of letters to former subpostmasters identified as eligible by the government has already been sent out, with more to follow.
In May, the government passed unprecedented legislation to overturn hundreds of convictions, which were based on evidence from the Post Office’s flawed IT system, opening the door to financial claims for the victims of miscarriages of justice. Between 2000 and 2015, about 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted based on evidence from the Post Office’s Horizon computer system used in branches.
The Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS), as the latest programme is known, is being managed by the Department for Business and Trade, with no involvement from the Post Office.
It offers wrongly convicted subpostmasters two routes to financial redress. All applicants, once verified as eligible, will receive a £200,000 upfront interim payment. This will increase to £600,000 for those who decide to settle, while those who want to have their full losses and suffering assessed can continue to negotiate for higher payouts.
Those seeking to have their losses fully assessed will have their interim payment increased to £450,000, but there is no guarantee their final payment will be over £600,000.
Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Postmasters have suffered immeasurably so I hope today’s new redress scheme brings some relief to postmasters who have waited far too long to get back the money that is rightfully theirs.
“Any postmaster who thinks they are eligible for this scheme can come forward and register. We know that every case is different, and this government fully supports the right of every postmaster to choose what is best for them.”
Legal support
The government is recommending eligible claimants seek legal support, which the government has agreed to pay for up to a certain level.
Computer Weekly revealed in January 2022 that the government had given the Post Office a £1bn taxpayer subsidy towards the cost of financial redress for victims of the scandal. In addition to the latest offer for those wrongly convicted, there is the Historical Shortfalls scheme for existing and former subpostmasters who suffered losses due to Horizon errors, as well as the Group Litigation Order (GLO) Compensation Scheme for the hundreds of subpostmasters who defeated the Post Office in the High Court.
Former subpostmaster and long-time campaigner Alan Bates welcomed the scheme, but called on the government to outline its plan for GLO scheme claimants.
Of the 555 members of the High Court Group GLO, about one-third accepted an offer to settle for £75,000, while two-thirds sought to have larger claims assessed. So far, only “a few handfuls” of these have received settlement, Bates told Computer Weekly. He said the new announcement from the government “seems to be a bit of a distraction from trying to provide financial redress to the GLO, some of which have waited over 20 years”.
Bates asked: “What is the Labour government’s plan for the GLO?”
Separately, the government could potentially establish yet another financial redress scheme for former users of the Post Office’s Capture software. Following the Horizon scandal becoming widespread public knowledge, former subpostmasters who suffered unexplained losses and were convicted of crimes came forward with their stories. Forensic investigation company Kroll is currently looking into claims against Capture and is expected to report its findings in September.
The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters, including Alan Bates, and the problems they suffered due to accounting software. It’s one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history (see below timeline of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal, since 2009).
• Also read: What you need to know about the Horizon scandal •
• Also watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The real story •
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