HANSARD
Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Report: Government Response to Volume 1 Recommendations
- On 8 July, the Department welcomed the publication of the first volume of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry report. The inquiry has provided a platform for postmasters to share their experiences of the horrendous injustice, enabling Parliament, the Government, the Post Office and the wider public to gain a true perspective of the life-changing impacts on those affected.Sir Wyn Williams’ report commented on the redress schemes delivered by this and the preceding Government, with carefully considered conclusions. I pay tribute to Sir Wyn and his inquiry team for their work, alongside the many hon. Members and peers who have campaigned about the scandal.Sir Wyn’s report set out 19 recommendations, which provide helpful guidance about how we should improve the existing redress schemes. I wholly share Sir Wyn’s view that his recommendations should be addressed promptly. In July, my hon. Friend, the previous Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports, committed that the Government would respond to them by 10 October, as Sir Wyn requested. I am pleased to announce that we did this on 9 October.Response to r ecommendationsThe full response to all recommendations has been shared with Sir Wyn, placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on www.gov.uk. We have accepted all but one of his 18 recommendations relating to Horizon redress.The only Horizon-related recommendation that we have not accepted was closing the Horizon shortfall scheme dispute resolution process, as we believe that to do so would unfairly restrict postmasters’ choices.Sir Wyn’s 19th recommendation—for an independent body to deliver redress for future scandals—is welcome, but we will need to do more work on its feasibility before we can adopt it. This work is under way, and we will update the House when appropriate.The Government informed the House on 8 July that we had accepted two of Sir Wyn’s recommendations already, including the principle of establishing a redress scheme for members of postmasters’ families, and the recommendation that claimants should be able to bank the best offer that they get from the group litigation order process. Today, I can confirm that we have also published the definition of what we mean by “full and fair redress”, to make this clearer for claimants and their representatives. We have already implemented a number of the other recommendations.With Post Office and Fujitsu, we have commenced work on a restorative justice project for postmasters and their families, expertly facilitated by the Restorative Justice Council.This work on restorative justice is separate from the contribution which Fujitsu has already agreed in principle that it should make towards the costs of the scandal. We are discussing that with it, but do not expect a conclusion until we have received the final part of Sir Wyn’s report.