Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, what his planned timetable is for concluding discussions with Fujitsu on their financial contribution; and whether he plans to seek binding commitments from that company.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The full extent of Fujitsu’s culpability for the Horizon scandal will only become clear once all volumes of Sir Wyn Williams’ Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report have been published. In the meantime, the Department continues to engage with Fujitsu regarding their potential financial contribution.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, what the estimated cost is of funding legal advice for appeals; and how he plans to ensure timely access to that funding.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

My Department will start publishing legal costs associated with Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals as part of the quarterly legal cost publication on GOV.UK. The next legal costs publication is scheduled for early November.

We work closely with legal representatives and encourage claimants to seek funded legal advice. We have processes in place to ensure prompt payment, provided guidance in the published tariff is followed.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that vulnerable postmasters are aware of the 31 January 2026 deadline.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Post Office has contacted the vast majority of current and former postmasters who may be eligible for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS). Following the announcement of the scheme’s closure date, the Post Office will write to postmasters again to ensure they are aware of the 31 January 2026 deadline, in line with the Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation. This step is part of ongoing efforts to ensure vulnerable postmasters are informed and supported throughout the process.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, whether legal support will be extended to postmasters who accepted fixed sum offers; and how he plans to notify those postmasters.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

In line with the Government’s response to Recommendation 9 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report, postmasters who accepted fixed sum offers under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme will be able to seek funded legal advice if they wish to apply for permission to appeal.

My Department is working closely with the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board and the Independent Reviewer on the practical implementation of the appeals process, including its scope and criteria. We will engage with legal representatives and postmaster representative organisations on the process before it is launched.

My Department will write to all eligible postmasters when the process is launched.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, what mechanisms are in place to monitor whether decision-makers are applying a generous approach within the appropriate range of compensation.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

On 9 October, the Department for Business and Trade and the Post Office published a joint statement setting out what constitutes “full and fair” redress, following a recommendation from Sir Wyn Williams. This statement has been embedded in the guidance for each redress scheme to ensure that decision-makers apply a consistent and generous approach within the appropriate range of compensation. Each scheme also has an independent reviewer, who was consulted on the statement and plays a key role in monitoring its application and ensuring that decisions align with the principles of fairness and full redress.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, what steps he has taken to (a) assess and (b) compensate for non-financial losses including (i) psychological trauma and (ii) reputational damage.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Redress is available for both financial and non-financial losses. Across the compensation schemes, cases are assessed individually on their facts and in accordance with established legal principles. The losses compensated may include impacts on mental or physical health, as well as reputational damage.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, whether his Department plans to publish anonymised (a) case studies and (b) data to demonstrate how full and fair redress is being interpreted in practice.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department currently has no plans to publish anonymised case studies but may explore this in future. We do, however, publish monthly updates on redress delivery, which provide detailed insights into the number of claims received, offers made, and settlements completed.

As highlighted in the statement on full and fair redress, published on the 9 October, fairness is assessed on a case-by-case basis, with a range of factors considered in the round and judged on their own merits. At the same time, the redress schemes aim for broad consistency in awards where claimants have experienced similar harm.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations, HCWS937, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that postmasters receive the benefit of the doubt in cases where evidence has been (a) lost and (b) destroyed.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government recognises the challenges some postmasters face in providing evidence, particularly where significant time has passed or records have been lost or destroyed. The independent panel assessing each case takes these difficulties into account when making its recommendations.

As outlined in the joint statement made with the Post Office on 9 October, fairness requires acknowledging the absence of retained evidence, especially where it was wrongly withheld or destroyed. In such cases, and where it is fair to do so based on individual circumstances, postmasters should rightly receive the benefit of the doubt.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what contingency plans his Department has in place to mitigate disruption to UK-EU steel trade arising from changes to EU safeguard measures.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is engaging with the EU on how their proposed trade measure will be applied to the UK, in a way which honours our Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the Windsor Framework and minimises disruption; we are reserving the right to take any action in response to changes to our trading relationships.

We are developing UK steel trade measure proposals, taking into account UK interests in light of the rapidly changing global situation; and we are developing our steel strategy, to be published later this year, to create a more competitive business landscape.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the European Union’s revised steel safeguard measures on UK steel exports.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We are in active dialogue with the European Commission to fully understand the details of their proposal and next steps.

The government is also working closely with UK industry to understand potential impacts and solutions, and to assess how best to secure the UK’s supply chains in light of these developments. I held a roundtable with industry, including trade unions, on the 9 October.

This government will always put the UK’s national interest first, and is committed to defending our critical steel industry, protecting skilled jobs and supporting economic growth as part of our Plan for Change.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Deprived communities to get new flood defences faster further to the announcement, published on 14 October 2025, how much funding her Department will allocate under the (a) new and (b) previous approach to (i) England (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) Worcestershire in 2025-26.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On 14 October, following consultation, the government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy. These changes will be used for the next flood programme starting in April 2026.

The new funding policy will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences and will ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. We will use government funding to unlock investment from public, private and charitable sources, making every £1 of government investment go further. We will also invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over ten years – the highest figure to date for the floods programme.

The specific projects to receive funding in each year will continue to be decided through the Environment Agency's annual refresh process, which will be consented by Regional Flood and Coastal Committees.

For 25/26 our programme of investment was published here: Programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) schemes - GOV.UK.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby

Found: Q50 Dame Harriett Baldwin: Obviously.