The Post Office Horizon scandal is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice we have ever seen in our country. Innocent postmasters who were simply doing their job used faulty Horizon software which showed continual shortfalls in their accounts and were then prosecuted for false accounting or theft - crimes they never committed. It is imperative all of those affected get the full and fair compensation they rightly deserve as quickly as possible.

The ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ has brought an understanding of the Horizon scandal to a much broader audience, but work has been ongoing on this long before it was broadcast. Personally, I was an MP on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee in 2015 responsible for questioning Paula Vennells and officials from the Post Office on Horizon’s ineffectiveness and their awful treatment of the postmasters.

I know Ministers will continue their efforts until everyone has been compensated fairly, the truth is known and those responsible have been held to account. I will support any new measure that is brought forward to assist those postmasters who have faced such awful injustices at the hands of the Post Office.

Rebecca Harris MP (Jan 2024)

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act Enters Into Law

May 2024

The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 has now become law and I was in Parliament this week to help it pass its final stage. Those affected by one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history will now be exonerated. They will shortly have their records updated and be given a route to their rightful financial redress.

I want to reiterate the Post Office Horizon IT scandal that began in the late 1990s was a horrific scandal that has had severe impacts on the lives of the postmasters affected and it demanded an exceptional response to right the wrongs they have faced. As a result of the work undertaken by the Government and the support shown across Parliament, legislation has now entered into law which means hundreds of people will rightly have their Horizon convictions quashed.

Convictions will be quashed for those who;

• Were prosecuted by the Post Office or Crown Prosecution Service.
• Were for offences carried out in connection with Post Office business between 1996-2018.
• Were for relevant offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting.
• Which were against sub-postmasters, their employees, officers, family members or direct employees of the Post Office working in a Post Office that used the Horizon system software.

The Bill has secured Royal Assent up to 8 weeks earlier than expected following the Prime Minister’s announcement of a General Election on 4th July. I was pleased to see Ministers bring this forward to make sure postmasters have been given certainty that their convictions will be quashed. The Ministry of Justice will now shortly begin writing to those whose convictions have been identified as being in scope of this legislation, to notify them that their conviction has been quashed and their records updated. The Police will entirely delete any records relating to quashed convictions from the Police National Computer, including biometric data where the quashed conviction is the only one on their record. Completely deleting the conviction record from the Police National Computer will mean it rightly no longer shows up on any criminal record check, such as a DBS check.

I also wanted to confirm that the new redress scheme, the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme, which will be delivered by the Department for Business and Trade and open in the summer in line with previous Ministerial commitments will begin paying redress to those who have their convictions quashed. Optional fixed awards of £600,000 will now be available to applicants and those with larger claims will be able to have their claims individually assessed. As of 30th April, the latest data available, over £202 million has now been paid to almost 2,800 claimants across the 3 current compensation schemes and I am pleased that following this legislation being enacted it will now be massively expanded.

Individuals will have a right of appeal if their case has previously been before the Court of Appeal. This small cohort will be able to apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission for them to consider a referral back to the Court of Appeal. An application to the Commission is free of charge and legal representation is not required to make an application. Legal aid is available for all stages of criminal appeals, subject to the usual eligibility criteria.

I am continuing to support the statutory inquiry looking into this issue. It is expected to report later this summer and following its findings we will gain individual and corporate accountability for the actions of the Post Office. I want to reiterate those responsible should be held to account by whatever means necessary, including prosecutions.

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill Published

March 2024

Hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters wrongly convicted because of the Horizon scandal will have convictions quashed following landmark legislation now introduced through the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill. This blanket exoneration will quash convictions brought about by erroneous Horizon evidence, clearing the names of many people who have had their lives ruined. This comes as £179 million has now been paid to around 2,800 victims so far.

Affected sub-postmasters will receive an interim payment with the option of immediately taking a fixed and final offer of £600,000, so that they can finally begin to rebuild their lives.

Under the proposed Bill, convictions will be automatically quashed if they:

• Were prosecuted by the Post Office or Crown Prosecution Service.
• Were for offences carried out in connection with Post Office business between 1996-2018.
• Were for relevant offences such as theft, fraud and false accounting.
• Were against sub-postmasters, their employees, officers, family members or direct employees of the Post Office working in a Post Office that used the Horizon system software.

The Government has also confirmed it will bring forward enhanced financial redress for postmasters who were not convicted, or part of legal action against the Post Office, but who still suffered considerably due to Horizon failures. These individuals, also known as the Horizon Shortfall Scheme cohort, will have the option to receive a fixed sum payment of £75,000. Those who have already settled for less money will have their redress topped up to this level bringing them in line with the successful approach taken for members of the Group Litigation Order group of postmasters.

The Department for Business and Trade will now be responsible for delivering the new Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme which will make redress payments to those who have had their convictions quashed by this legislation. The aim is to have the scheme open for applications as soon as possible once the legislation has been passed. 

The Government acknowledges the risk that this legislation could quash convictions of people who were genuinely guilty of a crime. In line with the wishes of campaigners, the Government will make all efforts to ensure this is targeted and make sure nobody who defrauded the system is able to access taxpayer-funded compensation. Before receiving financial redress, sub-postmasters will be required to sign a legal statement vowing that they did not commit the crime for which they were originally convicted. Any person found to have signed a statement falsely for financial redress may be guilty of fraud.

The Government will continue to push this legislation through Parliament with the aim of achieving Royal Assent as soon as possible ahead of summer recess. Redress will be delivered as swiftly as possible after the quashing of convictions are processed.

January 2024

Are you supporting the Government’s Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Bill?

I am supporting this Bill. As you may already know, the Department for Business and Trade is administering the Group Litigation Order Compensation Scheme for the 555 postmasters who won the High Court case against the Post Office and exposed the Horizon scandal. I am pleased that Ministers are now introducing an upfront compensation payment of £75,000 for postmasters affected in this group. Full compensation payments made under the GLO scheme are paid under the sole authority of Appropriation Acts and therefore, under the current law, Parliament requires all such payments to be made within a two-year period. The first payment of compensation was made on 8 August 2022, meaning no payments can be made beyond 7 August 2024.

The Government is determined to make compensation to claimants as soon as possible and by the current deadline of August 2024. However, this is not entirely within the Government’s own gift, particularly for those with complex claims, thus potentially leaving some postmasters without full and fair compensation. In line with Sir Wyn Williams’ recommendation, the Government is now legislating through the Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Bill to reassure them that everyone will get compensation, they will not be rushed or bounced into deciding on their claims and is removing this two-year deadline. The Department has also announced a commitment to make compensation offers to 90% of Group Litigation Order postmasters within 40 working days of getting fully completed applications.

How much compensation has been paid so far?

The Government has so far paid £153 million in compensation to over 2,700 claimants across the three Horizon schemes – Group Litigation Order (GLO), Horizon Shortfall Scheme and the Overturned Convictions Scheme. 93 postmasters have now had their convictions overturned and 30 of these have agreed to final compensation settlements. The Government is supporting the Post Office to make an upfront offer of £600,000 in full and final settlements to postmasters whose related conviction has been overturned. If a postmaster does not wish to accept the upfront offer, they can pursue their claim via the usual process with the Post Office and may be eligible for interim payments of up to £163,000.

What action is the Government taking?

Conservative MPs played a key role in securing justice. In 2012, James Arbuthnot MP (now Lord Arbuthnot) persuaded the Chair of the Post Office to commission Second Sight to conduct a review into problems with Horizon. Between 2014 and 2018, Conservative MPs led in debates in Parliament, while Ministers pressed the Post Office board on Horizon issues and established a policy team within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to oversee the matter.

In the ITV drama ‘Mr Bates v The Post Office’, there is also a scene featuring Nadhim Zahawi MP as a member of the Business Select Committee in 2015 questioning Paula Vennells and officials from the Post Office. I was also on the Committee that day and questioned them myself on the Post Office’s mediation scheme and the concerns at its ineffectiveness and treatment of these postmasters who were reporting issues with the Horizon system. I was pleased to see Paula Vennells do the right thing and hand her CBE back voluntarily. You can watch these exchanges here: www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/d05cb9e7-04d0-4d05-8a43-ddd74b1eecc0 or read the written transcripts of the evidence sessions here: committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/4526/pdf/

In March 2021, the Government established the Horizon Shortfall Scheme to compensate sub-postmasters not involved in the Group Litigation Order and the Government announced funding for a scheme which would ensure that Group Litigation Order members were compensated on a similar basis to other postmasters in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.

In December 2022, the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board was established and given a remit to advise on all three compensation schemes. Last year, the Government announced a £600,000 Fixed Sum Award offer for convicted postmasters as an optional alternative to having their compensation individually assessed.

Why do we need a public inquiry?

It is incredibly important to make sure we have a clear account of the systemic failures shown by the Post Office. That is why a non-statutory inquiry was established by the Government in September 2020 and in June 2021, when the scale and complexity of the issue became clear, it was enhanced to a statutory inquiry, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams.

It is expected to report in full by the end of the year and following its findings we will be able to gain individual and corporate accountability for the actions of the Post Office during this period. Those responsible should be held to account by whatever means necessary, including prosecutions.

*This page will be updated following any further announcements*