The government did not do enough to ensure that all victims are entitled to compensation for the post office scandal requested a report.
Many current and old post owners Horizon it failures And associated court errors do not yet receive fair and timely compensation, according to the report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Only 21% of the 18,500 letters sent to the masters sent to post owners to make them aware of the program at the horizon deficit were responded, according to figures provided by the Department of Affairs and Commerce (DBT). About 5,000 other letters should be sent in 2025.
As part of the program, the current and former post owners who were financially affected by the computer system of the horizon, but who were not convicted or did not take the post office before the high court, can either settle their complaint for a final fixed sum of £ 75,000, or have fully evaluated.
There is also the Horizon Convictions Résie (HCRS) program, which is for sub -osters who had their convictions canceled after the adoption of the postal offenses (Horizon System) last year.
The 800 submatical complaints who are eligible under UNHCR are entitled to a full and final regulations of £ 600,000, or the possibility of pursuing a complete assessment of complaints.
At the end of March, 339 accepted the sum of the regulation, the PAC report, which is made up of deputies on all sides of the House of Commons, found.
But the PAC report indicates that the government does not intend to follow up with people who are or can be eligible to claim but who still have to apply.
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“ They knew that the software was defective ”
The Committee recommends that the DBT be described what it will do more to ensure that each post office concerned is fully aware of its complaint options.
A third program provides compensation to sub-posts of sub -ostes who have been wrongly sentenced for fraud, theft and false accounting.
Out of the 111 submatical submarits for the registration regime canceled and which are entitled to a full and final regulation of £ 600,000, or to continue a complete assessment of the complaint, 25 have not yet submitted a complaint, some of which represent the most complex cases.
The DBT has resumed program management with the post office, and the PAC report recommends that the ministry be described how it plans to manage the remaining cases within the framework of the program.
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Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, president of the CAP, said that thousands of people had been “deeply stranded” by the system during “one of the worst court errors”.
He added: “This committee would have hoped to have found the government focused on the laser to ensure that all those eligible were fully and paid enough for what happened.
“It is deeply unsatisfactory to note that these regimes are still evolving far too slowly, without the government warning to find the majority of potential applicants who may not yet be aware of their appropriate rights.
“It is completely unacceptable that people affected by this scandal, some of whom had to go through the courts to erase their names, are forced to relaunch their cases a second time.”