Post Office Horizon Scandal: Compensation Payments

Baroness Brinton Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord. The volumes coming through each of the schemes are very differing. If I take the HSS, for example, which is the scheme with the most volume, a significant volume is going through that: 3,400 offers have been accepted and 3,350 claims have been paid in full. However, there are 7,082 claims out there that are still being looked at, and making sure we address them quickly is a priority of the Government. A lot of activity has been taken in that regard—for example, giving fixed-claim sums to claimants—with the goal of speeding up the process.

The noble Lord referred to the 90% target that the department applies to the schemes that are operated by the Department for Business and Trade. I note that, in particular, the GLO scheme is operating at 89%, against the target of 90%. That 90% is about claims being reviewed within 40 days of receipt. There are some ideas that we could perhaps up that target—why would it not be 100%?—but there is a balance to be struck there, because the claimants need to make sure that they are getting appropriate time to review and understand the offer being made to them. We do not want to inadvertently apply some pressure or duress for them to review those claims in a process that suits our timelines but perhaps not theirs, so, at this point, that 90% target is appropriate.

[Baroness Brinton (LD)]

My Lords, last week the National Audit Office reported that, under the last Government, inadequate data from government had held back the 2023-24 audit of the Post Office Horizon compensation schemes, and there was also a breach in spending limits, which undermines rules of control over public spending. What are the Government doing to ensure that this never happens again?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

If I may refer specifically to the Horizon scandal and how we are making sure that a scandal of this level never happens again, there is a significant undertaking with the Sir Wyn Williams review looking at exactly this matter of understanding how a scandal of this scale was allowed to come about, the accountability that operates there and that the right people are held accountable, and of ultimately making sure that something to this extent can never happen again.