‘Serious structural failings’ pervade the redress system for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal with victims continue to face ‘unacceptable delays’ and ‘inadequate offers’.
A new report by the Business and Trade Committee has revealed that the administrative process meant to be putting right this grave miscarriage of justice ‘re-traumatises those who have already been wronged.’
The Horizon scandal saw many former post-masters being wrongly accused, convicted, and punished for shortfalls in their accounts due to problems with the Horizon IT system which was developed by the technology firm Fujistu. According to the report, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has quashed 611 convictions under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences 2024 Act. Alongside wrongful conviction, affected individuals faced significant financial detriment and several ended up taking their own lives.
In response to the scandal, three different Horizon-related schemes have been set up for victims to seek redress and, as of 31 January 2026, approximately £1.44 billion has been paid to claimants across these three schemes.
Despite this progress, significant problems remain: 1,528 individuals are still awaiting an offer of compensation, and a total of 2,434 are yet to receive full redress. The latest data suggests there are significant administrative delays with fixed-sum offers currently taking an average of 143 days to issue—more than four times the intended 30-day target—while fully-assessed cases take an average of 450 days.
The scandal has caused profound psyhcological distress to its victims. Claimant David Eaton described the trauma faced by his wife, Glenys, stating he could ‘very much understand why people commit suicide’. The Eaton family incurred over £5,000 in legal costs, which they could only afford because of prior compensation. Eaton also questioned why he had to wait months for a fixed-sum payment.
The report documents concerns that many victims are unable to engage with the redress systems. There are 174 individuals who have failed to respond to letters from the Ministry of Justice requesting information about their conviction to determine if it should be quashed. Dr Neill Hudgell, a lawyer acting for claimants, suggested that many individuals are ‘unable’ to deal with the letters due to the ‘trauma, fear, and mistrust created by their wrongful convictions.’
Whilst Fujitsu has admitted a ‘moral obligation’ to contribute to the costs, they have yet to make any financial contibution to the £2 billion cost of redress payments. The Government described the company’s refusal to make an interim payment while continuing to profit from public contracts as ‘unsatisfactory’.
The report also highlighted new evidence which suggested there were pre-existing problems with the previous accounting system, ‘Capture’ indicating the ‘alarming possibility’ that miscarriages of justice may be wider than previously thought. The Committee expressed serious concern that many eligible individuals may be overlooked due to incomplete records and warned that the lack of an independent appeals mechanism risks further injustice.
