At least 10,000 people affected by Post Office IT scandal, inquiry report says
This is what Sir Wyn Williams, the inquiry chair, says in his report about the human impact of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.
It is almost impossible to ascertain, with any degree of accuracy, the number of persons who have suffered as a result of the misplaced reliance upon data produced by Horizon. I can say, however, with a degree of confidence that there are currently about 10,000 eligible claimants in the schemes providing financial redress and that number is likely to rise at least by hundreds, if not more, over the coming months.
The scale of the suffering endured by those claimants is extremely wide-ranging. At one end of the spectrum, there are claimants who were held liable for small amounts of money allegedly lost to the Post Office – perhaps tens or hundreds of pounds. At the other end of the spectrum, there are claimants who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned, and/or became seriously ill, and/or were declared bankrupt. There are claimants who represent persons who have died. Some of the deceased persons died of natural causes before their convictions were quashed; some have died more recently before their claims for financial redress were determined fully; some are said to have been driven to despair and suicide.
Key events
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Williams says compensation should also be available to family members affected by Post Office scandal
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Williams says having four compensation schemes was mistake, and problems will persist even if recommendations adopted
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Williams questions fairness of some of compensation payments paid under Horizon Shortfall scheme
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Williams says he wants government to say if it is accepting his recommendations within three months
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Williams says evidence of human impact of Post Office scandal ‘profoundly disturbing’
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Wyn Williams explains why Post Office inquiry human impact and compensation report being published first
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Around 1,000 people convicted on basis of Post Office Horizon evidence, and for some life became ‘close to unbearable’, report says
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At least 10,000 people affected by Post Office IT scandal, inquiry report says
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Williams says compensation should also be available to family members affected by Post Office scandal
Williams ended by saying that, when he started work on the inquiry, he was not familiar with the concept of restorative justice.
But, as the inquiry went on, calls for restorative justice became “louder and louder”, he said. He said the Post Office and Fujitsu embraced the concept “with what I might describe as varying degrees of enthusiasm”. He said he thought they would at least consider this approach. But nothing has happened. He urged the government to get involved.
He also said he thought compensation should be paid “to family members who have suffered serious adverse consequences as a result of the treatment meted out to their loved ones”.
Williams says he does not think victims, or the public, will ever accept that the conclusions of a redress scheme run by the organisation at fault are ever fully independent.
He says there is a case for setting up a compensation body which is truly independent to deal with cases like this.
But he says that could not happen quickly enough to be appropriate in this case.
He says there are more than 300 people who have been waiting more than five years for compensation in the HSS. It would be unfair to expect them to wait longer while a new system is set up, he says.
Williams says he agrees with the Commons business committee that the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) is the one in most need of improvement.
Williams says having four compensation schemes was mistake, and problems will persist even if recommendations adopted
Williams says, even if his recommendations are accepted in full, “they will not constitute some magic formula for removing all of the problems from which the [compensation] schemes suffer”.
He says he is critical of the Post Office and the government in relation to these schemes, “not least in relation to some of the egregious delays which have occurred”.
He says having four separate schemes was a mistake.
I cannot say plainly enough that there should not have been four distinct and separate schemes for delivering financial redress.
Williams is now talking about the Group Litigation Scheme (GLOS) – the scheme for post offfice operators who were part of the group legal case against the Post Office led by Alan Bates.
He says the claimants seemed to win “a famous victory” in court.
But the compensation they received under the deed of settlement “did not properly reflect their losses”, he says.
He says the last government agreed to increase the money available.
But some claimants still do not accept they are being offered full and fair compensation.
He goes on:
I would like to emphasise that a number of recommendations which I make are aimed at removing some of the obstacles which currently exist along the path to achieving settlements which are full and fair.
Even if the recommendations are accepted and implemented swiftly, however, it is difficult to imagine that the unresolved cases can be settled anytime soon.
I am loath to predict when all the claims in that scheme will be resolved, but I very much doubt whether settlements of every claim can be achieved before the end of next year … There are likely to be 150 claims or thereabouts in the process of assessment, which is a large number.
Williams says it is not obvious why two separate compensation schemes were set up for claimants whose convictions were quashed – one operated by the Post Office, and one operated by the government.
He is referring to the Overturned Convictions Scheme (OCS) and to the Horizon Conviction Redress Scheme (HCRS).
Williams questions fairness of some of compensation payments paid under Horizon Shortfall scheme
Williams is now going into more detail about his recommendations on compensation.
Under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS – one of the four compensation schemes), a “high percentage” of the most modest claims were settled by July 2024, he says. He goes on:
Whether some of those settlements were in reality full and fair can only be a matter of conjecture.
Williams says many of the claims in the £20,000 to £60,000 bracket were not settled on a “full and fair” basis.
And he says many of the larger claims have not been fully settled.
Williams says he wants government to say if it is accepting his recommendations within three months
Williams is now talking about compensation.
He quotes his first recommendation.
HM Government and/or the Department and where appropriate the Post Office and Fujitsu shall provide written responses to my recommendations by 10 October 2025.
He says some might see as this as a challenge to government. But it isn’t, he says. It is more of a “plea”.
He says three months should be enough for the government to decide whether or not it is accepting his recommendations.
He says, for the recommendations to have maximum affect, they must be accepted and implemented quickly.
Williams says evidence of human impact of Post Office scandal ‘profoundly disturbing’
Williams says the picture in his report is “profoundly disturbing”. He goes on:
In summary, what does that picture reveal?
Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment and for a sizeable proportion, that detriment subsists.
Many people have inevitably suffered emotional turmoil and significant stress. In consequence, many businesses and homes have been lost. Bankruptcies have occurred. Marriage and families have been wrecked …
Postmasters and others suffered the trauma of criminal prosecution, conviction and punishment, and for some punishment meant lengthy periods of imprisonment.
I received reports that some people held liable for shortfalls became ill as a consequence. Tragically, I heard too of people of whom it is said that they were driven to take their own lives.
Wyn Williams explains why Post Office inquiry human impact and compensation report being published first
Williams starts by saying it is good to see so many people attending. He has been “extremely grateful” for the interest shown in the inquiry, he says.
He thanks those who participated in the inquiry.
He says he has given two speeches about the inquiry in the past. The first was in September 2022, and the second was in July 2023, when he interim report was published.
He says in those speeches he stressed that the inquiry was looking at two areas – the impact of what happened, and whether the compensation schemes were “full, fair and prompt”.
He says he continues to view these as vital elements. And, when he stopped taking evidence, he considered whether he should deal with the human impact as part of the whole report, or whether he should publish that aspect as soon as it was written.
He decided to adopt the latter approach so he could publish as soon as possible, and comment on the compensation schemes. Some aspects of those schemes “could be improved substantially”, he said. So he decide to say so as soon as possible.
But he also concluded that a report covering compensation, without looking at the human impact, would be ‘“lacking in context”, he says.
Pilgrim says core participants had the chance to read the report under embargo before noon.
Williams will now make a few remarks, she says. But he will not take questions.
Leila Pilgrim, secretary to the inquiry, is introducing Sir Wyn Williams.
She starts by introducing key members of the inquiry team who are present for the statement.
Sir Wyn Williams is about to make a statement about his report.
There is a live feed at the top of the blog.
Around 1,000 people convicted on basis of Post Office Horizon evidence, and for some life became ‘close to unbearable’, report says
Around 1,000 people were convicted on the basis of Horizon evidence, the report from the inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal says.
Much publicity has surrounded the number of people who were prosecuted and convicted of offences in which data from Horizon played at least a part. Nonetheless, on the evidence available to me I find it difficult to be precise about the actual number. However, it seems to me to be likely that approximately 1,000 persons were prosecuted and convicted throughout the United Kingdom during the period with which the Inquiry is concerned based on Horizon evidence.
It might be thought that very few people who were prosecuted by the Post Office (or by the Prosecuting Authority in Northern Ireland and Scotland) relying upon data from Horizon were acquitted. That would not be correct. I have received evidence which suggests that there were somewhere between 50 and 60 people who were prosecuted, but who were not convicted. It is at least possible that there may have been more. Many of those persons would have been acquitted upon the direction of the presiding judge, but some were acquitted after a trial. However, the fact that persons who were prosecuted were not convicted did not prevent them from suffering many of the adverse impacts which I have already described.
Commenting on the trauma suffered by those prosecuted, Sir Wyn Williams, the inquiry chair, says:
I do not think it is easy to exaggerate the trauma which persons are likely to suffer when they are the subject of criminal investigation, prosecution, conviction and sentence. That is especially so when the persons involved have had no previous experience of these processes. I am sure that the vast majority of persons investigated and prosecuted by the Post Office will have had no such experience. Without exception, in all probability, they will have had no experience of being convicted of offences which render them liable to sentences of imprisonment. In modern times, almost invariably, many months, at best, elapses between the instigation of a criminal investigation and the conclusion of any prosecution consequent upon it. As it happens, the evidence given to this Inquiry has disclosed that in many instances this process has taken years. It is not difficult to imagine the stress and worry which would have consumed many an accused person during such a period of time …
I need not dwell on the suffering of those who were sentenced to immediate terms of imprisonment. Self-evidently, such persons will have suffered greatly. They will have lost their liberty for a specified period of time and they will also have lived for at least part of their sentences under circumstances which, at best, were very restrictive and, at worst, very restrictive and deeply unpleasant. On occasions, life may have seemed close to unbearable.