Plans to compensate subpostmasters wronged by the Horizon IT scandal are “still moving far too slowly”, a committee of MPs has said.
The Department of Business and Trade (DBT) needs to “outline what more it will do to ensure every affected postmaster” is aware of their options for redress, according to the public accounts committee.
The Government announced earlier this month that more than £1 billion has been paid out to subpostmasters across the Horizon-related schemes.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts. Many are still awaiting compensation.
Committee chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has described the scandal as “one of the UK’s worst ever miscarriages of justice” as “thousands of people were failed deeply by the system”.
Releasing the annual report into DBT and its accounts, Sir Geoffrey said: “This Committee would have hoped to have found government laser-focused on ensuring all those eligible were fully and fairly compensated for what happened.
“It is deeply dissatisfactory to find these schemes still moving far too slowly, with no government plans to track down the majority of potential claimants who may not yet be aware of their proper entitlements.”
According to the findings of the report released on Wednesday, DBT does not “yet have clarity” on the number of claims that could be submitted under the Horizon Shortfall scheme, or the value of claims that could come forward under the convictions redress scheme.
The committee have said that the department should “outline what more it will do to ensure every affected postmaster is fully aware of their options for making a claim under the Horizon Shortfall and Horizon Convictions Redress Schemes”.
They also say that officials should lay out how they plan to deal with remaining cases under the convictions scheme in particular.
According to figures released by the DBT earlier in June, £559 million has been paid out to 6,337 claimants from the Horizon shortfall scheme.
The data also says that of the 492 subpostmasters who joined Sir Alan Bates in taking the Post Office to court between 2017 and 2019 that have not been convicted, also known as the Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLO), 488 have received £167 million between them.
Elsewhere, £245 million has been paid out to 463 subpostmasters who had their convictions quashed by legislation put in place last summer, and £68 million has been paid to those who have had their convictions quashed in the courts.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “This report is based on a period from before last year’s election.
“Since then, this Government has quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters to provide them with full and fair redress, with more than £1 billion having now been paid to thousands of claimants.
“We will consider the recommendations and work with the Post Office, who have already written to over 24,000 postmasters, to ensure that everyone who may be eligible for redress is given the opportunity to apply for it.”
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