Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support sub-postmasters seeking to overturn criminal convictions relating to the Horizon IT scandal.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government is keen to see that all postmasters whose convictions are overturned are fairly compensated as quickly as possible and will work with Post Office towards this goal. Amounts of compensation will be settled by Post Office engaging with individual claimants or their representatives.
Postmasters seeking to have their convictions quashed must apply directly through the Courts before compensation payments can be made. Post Office is working with the Courts and the CCRC to progress appeals as quickly as possible.
The Government is providing the funding required for Post Office to support settlements with postmasters whose convictions have been quashed. This funding includes making interim compensation payments of up to £100,000 to all eligible postmasters who were wrongly convicted. So far, 66 postmasters have received offers for interim payments, and as of the time of writing, all but one of these have been paid.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on setting up a compensation scheme for the 555 claimants in the group litigation of Alan Bates and others vs Post Office.
Answered by Paul Scully
The 555 sub postmasters involved in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) agreed a settlement of £42.75m plus costs. In bringing this case they performed a public service; I understand their frustration that they have received less compensation than others.
BEIS officials have recently met their representatives to understand the harms which they have experienced, and we will continue to work with sub postmasters in the GLO to see what can be done.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent ombudsman to review compensation requests made by victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal that have been rejected.
Answered by Paul Scully
When establishing the Historical Shortfall Scheme, the Post Office engaged with the claimants in the settled litigation, to inform the design of the scheme, and the scheme already includes an independent advisory panel with appropriately qualified individuals to make recommendations on compensation. The Panel is completely independent of both Post Office and of Government. The Scheme received around 2,500 claims, of which over 2,300 were eligible applications and Post Office is working to make offers on the overwhelming majority of applications, (95%), by the end of 2022.
Regarding overturned historical convictions, POL is committed to paying the reasonable legal costs of the claimants’ representatives to ensure that they are properly supported to put forward their best possible case for compensation.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the relationship between representatives of Post Office Ltd and the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Post Office is continuing its efforts to right the wrongs of the past. This includes delivering compensation via the Historical Shortfall Scheme and compensation for postmasters with overturned criminal convictions – thereby resetting its relationship with postmasters who have been affected by the Horizon scandal.
The Government is closely monitoring the Post Office’s progress on delivering compensation in both areas.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that incidents such as the Post Office Horizon scandal will not happen again.
Answered by Paul Scully
On 29 September 2020, BEIS formally launched the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry which will establish a clear account of the implementation and failings of Horizon over its lifetime, as well as ensuring lessons are learnt so that a similar situation will not be repeated in the future.
The Post Office’s Chief Executive is leading a programme of improvements to overhaul the culture, practices and operating procedures throughout every part of its business. The Government continues to closely monitor delivery of these improvements. Ministers and officials are holding the Post Office to account for taking on board the lessons learned through the litigation and will want to see clear evidence that real change has taken place.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the 555 litigants who won civil proceedings against Post Office Ltd in 2018-19 will be included in the Post Office Horizon compensation scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
The 555 subpostmasters involved in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) agreed a settlement of £42.75m plus costs. My officials have recently met their representatives to understand the harms which they have experienced.
Postmasters who have had their Horizon-related conviction overturned are eligible for interim compensation payments of up to £100k. This includes postmasters with quashed convictions who were also part of the GLO.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to establish an appropriate compensation scheme for the 555 subpostmasters involved in the Group Litigation Order.
Answered by Paul Scully
The 555 subposmasters involved in the Group Litigation Order (GLO) agreed a settlement of £42.75m plus costs. In bringing this case they performed a public service; I understand their frustration that they have received less compensation than others. My officials have recently met their representatives to understand the harms which they have experienced.
Asked by: Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they will make for oversight, independent of the Post Office and Government, of the Alternative Dispute Resolutions in the Horizon compensation cases.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will monitor the Post Office’s progress on compensation cases as well as the approach being taken when making offers of compensation and track for consistency and fairness. Furthermore, a QC or other suitably qualified legal professional will review the proposed approach for assessing claims for at least an initial cohort of cases, and will be available to advise POL and the Government on issues arising as required.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the £58 million paid in damages to those effected by the Post Office Horizon scandal, will be paid for by (a) Fujitsu or (b) the public purse.
Answered by Paul Scully
The £57.75m 2019 Group Litigation Order settlement was paid entirely from Post Office Ltd resources.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 20 October 2021 to Question 57139 on Post Offices; how many of the applications to the Post Office's Historical Shortfall Scheme have been refused an award by the scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
While Post Office Limited is publicly owned, it operates as an independent business. Decisions on making awards under the Historical Shortfall Scheme are for the Post Office to make.