Redress schemes for Post Office Horizon scandal have serious failings, MPs find

The redress schemes for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal have “serious structural failings”, a parliamentary committee has found.Thousands of Post Office operators are still waiting for the compensation they are owed and face “unacceptable delays, inadequate offers, and administrative processes that ‘retraumatise’ those who have already been wronged”, a report by the business and trade committee said.The scandal, in which more than 1,000 people were wrongly legally pursued over discrepancies in their branch accounts linked to faulty software developed by Fujitsu, has been labelled the worst miscarriage of justice in UK history.There are three Horizon-related redress schemes for victims: the Horizon shortfall scheme (HSS), the group litigation order (GLO) and the Horizon convictions redress scheme (HCRS).The HSS, the biggest, is administered by the Post Office. Under the scheme, Post Office operators with a successful claim can receive a fixed sum of £75,000 or choose to pursue a higher amount.The business and trade committee found the scheme’s offers for redress were routinely overturned and increased after an appeal. Liam Byrne, the MP who chairs the committee, said justice had come “far too slowly” for hundreds of Post Office operators.“Many have waited years for the truth to be recognised and for the compensation they are owed. Yet today we find serious structural failings still blocking the road to justice,” he said.About 3,500 branch owner-operators were wrongly accused, with more than 900 prosecuted. Across all of the redress schemes, more than 11,500 claimants have been paid back a collective £1.48bn so far.Byrne noted that Fujitsu had “yet to contribute a penny to the nearly £2bn redress bill”, even as it continued “to benefit from public contracts”.He said: “That cannot continue. It is simply wrong that taxpayers are covering the costs for Fujitsu’s sins while Fujitsu is still profiting from taxpayers funded contracts.”In 2024, Fujitsu acknowledged it had a “moral obligation” to pay financial redress to the victims of Horizon and said it had known the accounting IT system was faulty since the 1990s. However, the company has made no interim payment and has agreed no figure.Byrne added that the committee heard evidence that suggested “unsafe convictions linked to earlier systems such as Capture”, the Post Office’s previous accounting system, which “may be only the tip of another iceberg”.A Fujitsu spokesperson said: “We continue to work with the UK government to ensure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place regarding bidding for new contracts while the Post Office inquiry is ongoing, and are engaged with the government regarding Fujitsu’s contribution to compensation.”A Post Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the scrutiny of the committee and its commitment to ensuring full, fair and timely redress is paid to those harmed during the Horizon scandal.“Progress has been made with 87% of eligible Horizon shortfall scheme applications having received an offer and £882m paid through the scheme. We are processing applications as quickly as possible to bring resolution to those who have applied.“We will review the committee’s recommendations and continue to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade.”A government spokesperson said: “We must never lose sight of the Horizon scandal’s human impact on postmasters and their families. The amount we’ve paid out has increased more than sixfold as part of our ongoing commitment to deliver justice to victims as swiftly as possible.“We welcome today’s report and agree that it is crucial that Fujitsu meets its moral obligation to contribute to the total costs of the scandal, and will publish our response to its recommendations shortly.”