Post Office Horizon Scandal: Compensation Payments Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Department for Business and Trade
Monday 19th February 2024

(10 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Offord of Garvel Portrait Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

The government advice is that each individual claimant must submit his or her claim, and money is available to them to take legal and medical advice. That is part of the reason why we think that, of the 477 cases, we have 58 claims—because they are more complicated—quite rightly being put together by each claimant and their advisers. When these claims are submitted, we have guaranteed that we will action 90% of them within 40 days of receipt.

Baroness Kramer Portrait Baroness Kramer (LD)
- View Speech - Hansard - -

My Lords, the noble and gallant Lord’s question was about not compensation but the issue of funding the correction of the software to the tune of £150 million. The entirely appropriate question is: why is Fujitsu not paying for the reworking of that software, rather than the Government and the taxpayer?

Lord Offord of Garvel Portrait Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

Perhaps I should have been clearer: the Government are funding this company, Post Office Ltd, to effectively commission a new system to replace Horizon. It might be reasonable to assume that it will not be Fujitsu that does the second system.