Fujitsu Horizon scandal: Postmasters offered £600k compensation for wrongful conviction

Ups the compensation offer from the original £100k

The government has announced a new fixed compensation payment of £600,000 for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Compensation will be available to any of the convicted postmasters and subpostmasters who have had their convictions overturned. So far, that amounts to 86 people, out of a total of 700 who were prosecuted in what has been described as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in UK history.

Criminal convictions for over 80 individuals have been overturned in the last three years.

The postmasters were convicted of false accounting between 1999 and 2015 due to faults with the Fujitsu Horizon software, which wrongly recorded shortfalls in their branches' accounts.

Action to overturn their convictions began in overturned in 2019, when an enquiry found that Horizon was "not robust," although tragically four postmasters committed suicide before that outcome. Others saw relationships and reputations collapse.

The postmasters were initially offered £100,000 in compensation each as an interim payment, but many are currently involved in a legal process to seek more.

The government has been criticised for its slow response in compensating the wrongly convicted postmasters and for the siuggish process in overturning the wrongful convictions.

The current offer of £600,000 is intended to provide quicker payouts to affected postmasters who have had their convictions overturned.

To accept the payment, they need to prove their conviction was quashed. This avoids a lengthy assessment process to calculate total losses. Postmasters can still opt for the full compensation scheme, but that process will take longer.

All "reasonable" legal fees will continue to be covered by those seeking further compensation vial the courts, the government said. Those postmasters who accepted a lower settlement will be compensated for the difference, and those whose convictions are overturned later will also be entitled to the £600,000 award.

Righting a wrong

"This is about righting a wrong and providing some form of relief to those wrongfully caught up in this scandal," said Kevin Hollinrake MP, the minister responsible for the Post Office at the Department for Business and Trade.

"Too many postmasters have suffered and for too long, which is why the government remains committed to seeing this through to the end until it is resolved and ensuring this cannot ever happen again."

The award comes as the Post Office Horizon IT enquiry, set up by the government in 2020 to investigate the scandal and led by retired judge Wyn Williams, is due to report this Autumn. It was originally set to conclude in Autumn 2022. The enquiry is also investigating whether the Post Office and Fujitsu knew about the faults in the Horizon system.

Solicitor Neil Hudgell, who represents 70 former postmasters, said the offer was insufficient. He also questioned the timing of the announcement.

"Having spent many months negotiating with the Post Office and the Government as to what would represent fair and full compensation for former subpostmasters who have had convictions overturned, we are somewhat surprised by this sudden announcement," he said, as reported by iNews.

"I expect the reaction of many of our clients will be that this move is another example of the Post Office trying to control the narrative here."

In July 2021, the UK government said it had set aside £233 million to compensate the hundreds of workers who were wrongfully accused of theft and false accounting.
Government schemes including the Overturned Convictions process, Horizon Shortfall Scheme and Group Litigation Order have so far paid more than £120 million to 2,600 individuals affected by the Horizon scandal.