Post Office, London. Credit: Alex Yeung, Shutterstock
At least £600,000 (€710,000) in compensation owed to victims of the UK’s Post Office Horizon scandal remains unclaimed – yet officials have admitted they’re not chasing it up, fearing they might “harass” the wrongly convicted.
A new report has slammed the government’s handling of the payouts, calling progress too slow and lacking urgency.
MPs slam delays in Horizon compensation payouts
The House of Commons public accounts committee (PAC) has criticised the UK government for taking “insufficient action” in identifying all eligible post office operators entitled to claim from the £1.7 billion (€1.9 billion) being made available through four compensation schemes.
The Post Office scandal, one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history, saw hundreds of sub-postmasters falsely prosecuted for financial shortfalls caused by the faulty Horizon IT system. In 2023, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) launched a scheme to compensate 800 people whose convictions had been quashed.
But nearly a year later, only 42 per cent of those eligible have accepted the fixed £600,000 offer, and a third haven’t even applied.
When asked by MPs why officials weren’t chasing up claims, the DBT admitted it had only sent one letter to each person and didn’t want to pressure them with reminders.
‘The government said that it was “concerned that individuals receiving letters would feel harassed if they had a series of letters asking the same thing,”’ The Guardian reports.
The PAC also took aim at the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS), run directly by the Post Office. While over 18,500 letters were sent to people who lost money because of the system (but weren’t convicted), only 21 per cent responded.
The Post Office admitted it hasn’t followed up with those who didn’t reply, but plans to send another 5,000 letters this year.
“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,” said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chair of the PAC. “It is entirely unacceptable that those affected… are being forced to relitigate their cases a second time.”
MPs also questioned the financial backing of the Post Office, which is entirely government-owned and currently running at a loss. It posted a £612 million (€718 million) pre-tax loss last year and is set to close 115 branches, risking 2,000 jobs.
A Post Office spokesperson said, “More than £1bn has been paid to victims of the Horizon IT scandal… However, more work remains to be done so that all victims receive full redress as quickly as possible and this is an absolute priority.”
But with delays, unclaimed funds, and key campaigners like Sir Alan Bates reportedly offered less than half of their original compensation requests, many are left asking: is this really justice, or just another cover-up in slow motion?
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