The newly appointed Business and Trade Committee has announced a short inquiry into financial redress in the Post Office Horizon scandal, focused on “fast and fair redress” for victims of what has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history.
In a scandal reaching back over two decades, postmasters who run individual post office branches experienced difficulties with the Horizon Post Office computer system. Errors in the system showed false shortfalls in postmasters’ accounts, which the Post Office then demanded they cover.
The Post Office used information from the Horizon system, provided by Fujitsu, to investigate and take action against postmasters and employees. This resulted in suspensions, prosecutions and bankruptcies, leading to health problems, family breakdown and even suicide among the people affected.
The situation has been compounded by the ensuing lengthy campaign for justice involving multiple court cases, overturned convictions, the development of several financial redress schemes and an ongoing public inquiry. The ITV drama “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” screened in January 2024 drew widespread public attention to the scandal.
The Committee will hold two evidence hearings in November.
On November 5th it will hear from victims of the scandal and their representatives, including Sir Alan Bates, and from Sir Gary Hickinbottom, Chair of the Post Office Overturned Convictions Independent Pecuniary Losses Assessment Panel .
On November 19th the Committee will put the evidence it has heard to the authorities responsible for the administration of the schemes - Government ministers and Post Office executives, including the first appearance of new Post Office Chair Nigel Railton.
It will begin its assessment of the causes and solutions to the questions of timeliness and fairness that have arisen in the redress schemes; to produce recommendations for improvement and to increase the urgency and focus on resolving the long-running issues.
Chair quote
Chair of the Committee Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP said: “Justice for the innocent victims of the Horizon scandal is unfinished business for our Committee. We have doggedly pursued this scandal for years and we won't stop pursuing it until this greatest miscarriage of justice in British history is finally put right.”