Government announces independent review into Horizon scandal

The government today (10 June) announced that it will shortly launch an independent review into the Horizon IT system used by the Post Office.

The review will consider whether Post Office has learned lessons from the Horizon scandal, and made necessary changes in order to avoid a similar issue in the future.

“The Horizon dispute and court case has had a devastating impact on the lives of many postmasters, and I have been deeply moved by the individual stories of those I have spoken to,” commented Postal Affairs Minister Paul Scully.

“It is so important that a case like this can never happen again.”

The government today published a draft terms of reference – via a written ministerial statement laid in the House of Commons – which will be subject to the confirmation by the chair, who will be appointed in due course.

“We are keen to see the review launch as soon as possible, and the publication of draft terms of reference today is an important step toward this,” Scully added.

The review follows a settlement of £57.75 million in December 2019 between Post Office and over 550 sub-postmasters who took the firm to the court over the Horizon IT system.

A week after the settlement, the High Court ruled in favour of the postmasters. The long-running case dealt with the Post Office’s accusations of stealing by postmasters from their branches which the litigants say are caused by discrepancies in the Horizon system.

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Welcoming the development, Post Office said it will “fully and positively engage” with the review.

“It is as much in the interests of Post Office as it is in the interests of postmasters to ensure that issues of the past are resolved and that the lessons learned inform the wide-ranging reforms being undertaken,” a spokesperson said.

The Post Office has taken several measures following the settlement to address the claims by affected postmasters.

These include a Historical Shortfall Scheme for current and former sub-postmasters to claim shortfalls related to previous versions of Horizon, and a review to identify all relevant historical convictions.

“We are also leaving no stone unturned for those postmasters with past criminal convictions that may be affected. We have been working closely with the Criminal Cases Review Commission since applications were first made to them,” the spokesperson added.

The Commission has so far referred 47 convictions of sub-postmasters for appeal following the High Court verdict, out of the 61 applications it received. It has provisionally decided to not refer seven other cases, and is still working on the remaining seven cases.

The Post Office has earlier revealed that its review has identified around 900 cases of prosecution since the introduction of Horizon IT system in 1999, “which may have relied on Horizon data.”

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee of the House of Commons has already launched an inquiry into the scandal.