A committee of MPs has called for the government to be fined if it fails to provide redress quickly enough to victims of the Horizon software scandal, as its report says the Post Office spent at least £136m on legal costs.
New legally enforceable deadlines for each stage of claims processing should be introduced, according to a report from the Business and Commerce Committee (BTC).
If a claim from a victim of Horizon post office scandal fails to meet deadlines, they should receive financial penalties paid by the government.
More than 700 sub-postmasters across the UK have been unfairly prosecuted by the Post Office for theft and false accounting using Fujitsu’s Horizon software which incorrectly generated deficits in the agencies.
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Many others incurred heavy debt, lost their homes, experienced relationship breakdown, fell ill in an attempt to pay off imagined deficits, and some committed suicide.
Four projects have been launched as the state and Postal Service attempt to right the wrongs.
Make repair less punitive
But the process of claiming compensation “is like a second trial for the victims,” commission chairman Liam Byrne said.
It is “imperative” that claimants receive advance legal advice paid for by the operators of the system rather than by the claimants, the committee report said, as the claimants’ lawyers have indicated. When they get legal advice, their financial relief offers double.
The requests impose an “undue burden” on claimants who must “tackle complex legal concepts” regarding the amount of compensation they are owed and requests for information about losses caused by Horizon, although they do not have more access to Horizon data.
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There were delays in processing the Postal Service’s disclosure requests, according to the report.
It comes as the Post Office spent £136 million on legal fees, meaning the government’s legal representatives are “walking away with millions”, according to the committee.
A large majority of unpaid repairs
Despite this, BTC said the “vast majority” of repairs had not been paid.
Up to 14% of those who applied for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) to compensate for losses suffered from the faulty computer program have still not settled their claims despite applying before the original 2020 deadline.
The Horizon Shortfall Scheme cost £67 million to administer, a bill equal to 27% of the reparations paid, or £26,600 per claim.
Repeated calls
The question of who manages these systems was revisited by the committee which reiterated its call for the Post Office not to be involved and for independent adjudicators to be appointed instead.
The government removed the post office programs involving convictions, but the organization continues to administer HSS.
He also repeated his request rejected for the appointment of an independent arbitrator for each plan. The committee wants these arbitrators to manage cases and ensure that claims move quickly through the process.
In response, a spokesperson for the Labor Department of Trade and Business said: “Since entering government, we have worked tirelessly to accelerate the process of providing victims of the Horizon scandal with full and fair redress, including by launch of the Horizon Convictions repair program earlier this year.
“We are resolving claims at a faster pace than ever, with the amount of compensation paid out having doubled since July, with almost £500 million paid to more than 3,300 claimants by the end of November. »