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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon Post Office accounting software.

On 29 September, we announced the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. The Inquiry aims to achieve the following:

• build on the findings of Mr Justice Fraser, by obtaining all available relevant evidence from Post Office Ltd, Fujitsu and BEIS to establish a clear account of the implementation and failings of the Horizon IT computer system over its lifetime.
• understand what went wrong in relation to Horizon and the impacts that the Horizon IT system caused;
• acknowledge the personal experiences of those who have worked with the Horizon system and were affected by it and identify what key lessons must be learned for the future;
• assess whether Post Office has learned the lessons and made good progress on the changes necessary to ensure a similar case does not happen again; and
• provide a public summary of the above through the publication of a report by Summer 2021 which will also make recommendations as the Inquiry chair, Sir Wyn Williams, sees fit.

The Post Office has also committed to a significant programme to fundamentally reform the organisation. Ministers and Officials regularly engage with Post Office management on the progress of this programme to ensure they deliver on their commitments from the settlement.