Exclusive:Post Office scandal: campaigners to push for amendments which could delay bill ‘to ensure its right’

Post Office campaigners are set to push for amendments to the government’s legislation to quash sub-postmasters’ wrongful convictions, which could delay the bill beyond the summer target.

Rishi Sunak announced the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill today (13 March), which will exonerate the hundreds of convictions brought about by erroneous IT evidence. Postal Affairs Minister Kevin Hollinrake said the government hopes to quash the convictions by July and pay compensation by August.

Post Office scandal campaigners and former sub-postmasters want to ensure the legislation is effective, particularly around the compensation payments, and will push supportive MPs to put forward amendments. Given the tight timetable leading up Parliament’s summer recess this risks delaying the bill.

However, victims of the scandal say this is worth it to get the correct legislation. Chris Head, the UK’s youngest sub-postmaster, told NationalWorld: “It is too important we have the right bill, otherwise we have a new problem to fix at a later date.”

He added: “It is pleasing though that those that have had this conviction hanging over their heads for so long can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.” More than 900 sub-postmasters were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.

Many more such as Head were left destitute, losing their homes and livelihoods, as the Post Office relentlessly pursued them, continually claiming there were no issues with its computer system. The scandal, described as the UK's “biggest miscarriage of justice”, was highlighted by the ITV drama series called Mr Bates vs the Post Office. 

Head, who was the UK’s youngest sub-postmaster in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, was under criminal and civil investigation after the faulty IT system showed cash losses of more than £80,000. He was pulled into the group litigation High Court case with Alan Bates and other sub-postmasters, as highlighted by the TV series.

However, Head says has only been offered 15% of his Group Litigation Order claim by the Department for Business and Trade, and is disputing this with an independent panel. He wants MPs to add amendments to the bill to set deadlines for the various compensation schemes.

He told NationalWorld: “Otherwise the most complex and most harmed people will be locked in a battle forever and a day. There simply must be a way to penalise schemes for not meeting deadlines and for causing unnecessary delays.”

Head also wants to take the compensation process out of the Department for Business and Trade’s hands, as well as the Post Office’s, “as they are just as culpable in this mess over the years as the sole shareholder”. While he says he wants the legislation to be completed before July, Head added that the primary importance is to get the right bill. 

Announcing the legislation, Hollinrake said: “Postmasters have been fighting for justice for years, and I hope the introduction of today’s legislation is the light at the end of the tunnel they have been waiting for. 

“It is only right that postmasters have access to swift and fair compensation which is why those with overturned convictions have the option of immediately taking a fixed and final offer of £600,000 and why we are changing the rules for those in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, so they are entitled to a £75,000 fixed sum award, bypassing the assessment process. For those who don’t choose this option, their claims can be assessed as part of the usual scheme process, in which there is no limit to compensation.” 

Speaking in the House of Commons, Hollinrake said it was not in the gift of ministers to ensure all Post Office compensation is paid by the end of the year, but insisted the government “absolutely” wanted that to happen.

Responding to Labour, the Postal Affairs minister said: “In terms of do we want to deliver by the end of the year, absolutely we do. I would just point out to her, as I said in my remarks, not everything is within our gift. We can’t compel a claimant to submit a claim or when that will happen, so if somebody put in a claim right towards the end of the year for example, it may not be possible to do that for the end of the year.”

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.