The federal government has not executed sufficient to make sure all victims entitled to compensation from the Put up Workplace scandal have utilized for it, a report has discovered.
Many present and former postmasters affected by Horizon IT failings and related miscarriages of justice will not be but receiving truthful and well timed compensation, in accordance with the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Solely 21% of the 18,500 letters the Put up Workplace despatched to postmasters to make them conscious of the Horizon Shortfall Scheme had been responded to, figures offered by the Division for Enterprise and Commerce (DBT) present. About 5,000 additional letters are anticipated to be despatched in 2025.
Lengthy-time Put up Workplace victims campaigner Sir Alan Bates advised Sky Information: “What is clear is that the PAC, together with ourselves, are dismayed concerning the size of time all that is taking and the failure of all victims to be contacted.
“It actually solely goes to assist what I’ve been saying time and time once more, that authorities departments are the fully incorrect folks to run a lot of these schemes as they solely grind them into the mud with forms.”
Underneath the scheme, present and former postmasters who had been financially affected by the Horizon IT system, however who had been both not convicted or didn’t take the Put up Workplace to the Excessive Court docket, can both settle their declare for a remaining mounted sum of £75,000 or have it totally assessed.
There may be additionally the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS), which is for sub-postmasters who had their convictions quashed after the passing of the Put up Workplace (Horizon System) Offences Act final yr.
The 800 or so sub-postmasters who’re eligible to assert below the HCRS are entitled to a £600,000 full and remaining settlement, or the choice to pursue a full declare evaluation.
By the top of March, 339 had accepted the settlement sum, the report by the PAC, which is made up of MPs from all sides of the Home of Commons, discovered.
However the PAC report states the federal government has no plans to comply with up with people who find themselves, or could also be, eligible to assert however are but to use.
‘They knew software program was defective’
The committee recommends that the DBT ought to define what extra it’s going to do to make sure each affected postmaster is totally conscious of their choices for claiming.
A 3rd scheme offers compensation to sub-postmasters who had been wrongly convicted of fraud, theft and false accounting.
Of the 111 sub-postmasters eligible to assert for the Overturned Convictions Scheme and who’re both entitled to a £600,000 full and remaining settlement, or to pursue a full declare evaluation, 25 haven’t but submitted a declare, a few of whom symbolize probably the most complicated circumstances.
The DBT has taken over the administration of the scheme from the Put up Workplace, and the PAC report recommends the division ought to define the way it plans to deal with the remaining circumstances below the scheme.
Learn extra on the Put up Workplace scandal:
Analysis: Redress must not only be fair – it must be fast
Post Office hero reveals he received ‘take it or leave it’ offer
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the PAC, mentioned 1000’s of individuals had been “deeply failed” by the system throughout “one of many UK’s worst ever miscarriages of justice”.
He added: “This committee would have hoped to have discovered authorities laser-focused on making certain all these eligible had been totally and pretty compensated for what occurred.
“It’s deeply dissatisfactory to seek out these schemes nonetheless transferring far too slowly, with no authorities plans to trace down the vast majority of potential claimants who might not but pay attention to their correct entitlements.
“It’s fully unacceptable that these affected by this scandal, a few of whom have needed to undergo the courts to clear their names, are being compelled to relitigate their circumstances a second time.”
