Postal Affairs Minister Paul Scully has announced that an additional £19.5 million in compensation will be granted to postmasters involved in the Horizon computer system debacle.
The award will bring the total amount of compensation to over £30 million and will be granted to qualified members of a body that represents subpostmasters.
“These postmasters and their families have demonstrated incredible courage in the face of horrible circumstances,” Mr. Scully added.
“I hope this first step gives some consolation to these pioneering postmasters while reiterating our commitment to making sure they get their fair part of the compensation,” the letter concludes.
The Government hopes to make all offers of interim payments for Post Office Horizon crisis victims “before the end of the year,” business minister Lord Callanan stated in a statement to the House of Lords.
He continued by saying that they would be “talking with their next of kin and with their estates” over the money they are owed for people who have passed away.
The Post Office started putting in Horizon accounting systems in 1999, but bugs in the program caused shortages in the accounts of branches.
Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office insisted that sub-postmasters make up the shortfalls and, in many cases, falsely prosecuted them for theft or false accounting.
A settlement of £43 million plus legal fees was paid to a number of postmasters who had brought the initial legal action against the Post Office over Horizon in 2019. However, a large portion of this money was consumed by the accompanying costs of funding their legal case through the courts.
The Historical Shortfall Scheme (HSS), which was eventually established to compensate other impacted postmasters, did not apply to them.
The interim payment on Thursday will serve as support while the new scheme is being developed, as the government promised in March to do so to prevent the group from losing out.
The GLO group (High Court Group Litigation Order) participants would be allowed to claim reasonable legal fees as part of taking part in the ultimate compensation scheme, Mr. Scully continued.
“I hope that this will assuage any worries that individuals might have about covering the fees of getting legal advice and help when applying to the scheme,” the author said.
Lord Callanan, a conservative peer, also promised that the Post Office’s core financing would not be impacted by the £19.5 million.
In the public inquiry into the affair, according to Lord Callanan, there would be “no hiding spot” for anyone who contributed to the wrongdoing.
Additionally, he asserted that the Post Office’s culture and previous “complacency” were changing under Nick Read’s new leadership.
He also gave Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, a leading advocate on the topic, assurances that any necessary legal action for redress against those at fault won’t be prevented by the ‘inevitable delay’ brought on by the public investigation.
When malfunctioning accounting software gave the impression that money was missing from their locations, more than 700 branch managers received criminal charges.
With scores of convictions overturned and many more in line for compensation, it has been dubbed the biggest injustice in UK history.
As we redress the wrongs of the past, a Post Office spokeswoman stated: “Ensuring complete, fair and final recompense for all Horizon scandal victims is a priority.
In the Historical Shortfall Scheme, about two-thirds of the postmasters have received offers of compensation, the majority of which have already been paid.
We applaud the government’s decision to take action on final, equitable compensation for postmasters who participated in the group litigation settlement and whose convictions linked to Horizon are reversed.
According to a minister, those accountable for the harm brought on by the Horizon computer system crisis would be “really held accountable.”
According to Telford’s Conservative MP Lucy Allan, anyone liable for the suffering the Horizon disaster caused will be “really held accountable.”
“I remain profoundly worried by the role of Fujitsu, UK Government Investments, and all those who sent ministers to this House even after the Justice Fraser ruling to say “nothing to see here,” she said in a statement to the Commons.
That was wrong. I am aware that Sir Wyn Williams is looking into it, as the minister rightfully stated, but will he personally guarantee that those responsible are brought to justice?
Paul Scully, the minister of business, retorted, “Absolutely, I will. Having established the statutory enquiry, I am unable to order Sir Wyn to make any specific findings at this despatch box at this time.
We definitely want to make sure that lessons are learned and that people are actually held accountable, but that is for him to decide.
I want to keep him as the independent chair.
Paul Scully has been encouraged by Conservative MP Duncan Baker to examine the “compensation system” for the current postmasters since “we are losing post offices up and down our high streets.”
The former postmaster who is now the MP for North Norfolk stated in the House of Commons, “Those who are accountable for this, particularly Fujitsu and the senior individuals inside the Post Office, have to be held to account.”
“Please, please look at the compensation structure for the existing postmasters out there,” I want to say to the minister in a new way.
All along our high streets in our towns, post offices are closing. We are doing that because operating a post office solely as a stand-alone entity is occasionally not financially viable.
When communities lose them, it is difficult to regain them. Please consider paying them fairly after this terrible scandal is resolved so we can bring this magnificent institution back to our high streets because, by goodness, we need them.
We won’t wait until this is over, the business minister retorted. As I mentioned, the Post Office regularly discusses compensation with sub-postmasters and their representatives. This is related to the post office’s future, which I previously discussed.
“This is why we need to work together to make sure that we can have that workable method for the post offices,” he continued.
“Not only will it be valuable economically, but it will also be valuable socially.”