Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to compensate sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon post office scandal.

It is vital that postmasters affected by Horizon get the compensation they deserve. The Post Office reached a full and final settlement with claimants in the group litigation in December 2019 and committed to right the wrongs of the past. A key commitment from this settlement was for the Post Office to set up the Historical Shortfall Scheme for postmasters who were not part of the Group Litigation to have historical shortfalls investigated and addressed. The Scheme received over 2,400 claims and Post Office are now assessing these claims. In this case it is right that the Government provides sufficient financial support to the Post Office to ensure the Scheme can proceed and to protect the vital services provided by the post office network.

The Government also welcomes Post Office’s aspiration to ensure that all postmasters entitled to claim civil compensation as a result of their convictions being overturned are recompensed as quickly as possible. The Government will continue to closely monitor the Post Office’s work on addressing the issues identified by Justice Fraser.