Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Post Office Horizon: Compensation

Thursday 13 March 2025 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial efforts have tripled the total amount of compensation paid in the past eight months.
  • More than 2,300 victims previously without compensation have now received financial redress.
  • The process aims to expedite redress through fixed-sum offers and interim payments.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 David Davis Con Goole and Pocklington
Standards & Ethics
Context

The Post Office Horizon scandal involves wrongful convictions of postmasters due to faulty software, leading to a need for compensation. Additional cases related to the Capture system, with similar issues, have been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The CCRC is known for taking years to make decisions.

Question

What steps he is taking to ensure that compensation is paid to people impacted by the Post Office Horizon scandal in a timely manner? I thank the Minister for that answer. He and I will agree that the Post Office Horizon scandal is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in modern times, but the problems with the Post Office and its injustice extend far beyond that. Some 21 cases relating to the precursor system, Capture, which bear the same hallmarks as those in the Horizon scandal, have been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. I am afraid that the CCRC is famous for taking years to come to obvious decisions, so can the Minister tell me that it will deal with this in months? If not, will his Department intervene directly?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)

In the past eight months we have trebled the total amount of compensation paid and ensured that more than 2,300 victims who had as yet received nothing have now had some financial redress. We are making up-front, fixed-sum offers and interim payments where possible to speed up the delivery of redress. There is still a lot more to do, though, and we remain committed to ensuring swift and fair redress for every postmaster affected by the Horizon scandal. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise the issue of Capture. As he will know, we have published our response to the independent Kroll report on the Capture software issue and the way in which the Post Office responded to the data that came out of it. We have been meeting sub-postmasters who used the Capture system and who were the victims in that regard to talk through a redress scheme with them. We are also working closely with the Criminal Cases Review Commission and have made it clear to the Post Office that it must co-operate with requests from the CCRC so that we can speed up its deliberations on the 21 cases.

Partly answered

How: We Remain Committed

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Q2 Harpreet Uppal Lab Huddersfield
Standards & Ethics
Context

A constituent of the MP, a former postmaster affected by the Horizon scandal, has applied for compensation but feels that the process is taking too long and imposing unreasonable asks. The legal ruling suggests that postmasters should be afforded the benefit of the doubt.

Question

I recently met a constituent who is a former postmaster affected by the Horizon scandal. He has applied for compensation but feels that the process is taking too long, with unreasonable asks. Given the legal ruling that postmasters should be afforded the benefit of the doubt, what steps is the Department taking to ensure that compensation claims are processed fairly and without delays that could further affect the victims?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)

As my hon. Friend will know, we inherited a compensation process that was perceived by many sub-postmasters as being slow, legalistic and adversarial, so we have already taken a series of steps to try to speed things up, particularly in trying to get out more fixed-sum payments—for example, we are moving in more staff to support work on the compensation process. If she would like me to look in more detail at her constituency case, I am very happy to do so.

Partly answered

How: We Have Already Taken A Series Of Steps

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Q3 Harriett Baldwin Con West Worcestershire
Business & Trade
Context

The Business Secretary met recently in Japan with Fujitsu, which developed the Horizon system and has offered to contribute to the compensation for victims. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for £1 billion.

Question

The Business Secretary met recently in Japan with Fujitsu, which developed the Horizon system and has offered to contribute to the compensation for victims. Can the Minister tell the House how much the Secretary of State has asked it to contribute, so that taxpayers are not on the hook for £1 billion?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)

The hon. Lady is right to reference the discussions that my right hon. Friend had with the chief executive officer of Fujitsu. That company has agreed to begin talks about its contribution to the costs of compensation. She will understand that we also need to wait for Sir Wyn Williams’ inquiry to conclude, and for his recommendations regarding compensation from Fujitsu to be heard and understood. I am sure she will also understand that I am not going to give a running commentary on the discussions with Fujitsu, but I welcome the fact that it has agreed to begin talks.

Partly answered

How: I Am Not Going To Give A Running Commentary

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