RLIT0000626 -GOV.UK - Government supports postmasters impacted by Horizon scandal by providing funding for late applications to Historical Shortfall Scheme

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a; GOV.UK

News story

Government supports postmasters
impacted by Horizon scandal by
providing funding for late applications to
Historical Shortfall Scheme

Government extends funding for Post Office to enable late
applications by postmasters to Historical Shortfall Scheme.

From: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
(/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-
strategy) and Dean Russell (/government/people/dean-russell)

Published 6 October 2022

This was published under the 2022 Truss
Conservative government

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« Government extends funding for Post Office to enable late
applications by postmasters to Historical Shortfall Scheme

¢ funding will ensure that postmasters impacted by Horizon scandal
can receive the compensation they are owed fairly and quickly

e new Postal Affairs Minister Dean Russell said: “We are ensuring that
innocent postmasters who were unable to tap into the Historical
Shortfall Scheme do not miss out on the compensation they deserve.”

The Post Office will be able to accept late compensation applications from
postmasters to the Historical Shortfall Scheme thanks to government
funding that has been extended today (Thursday 6 October) to support
those impacted by the Horizon IT scandal.

The Historical Shortfall Scheme was launched in May 2020 to compensate
postmasters who had to cover financial shortfalls in their branch’s accounts
caused by the Horizon IT system but were not convicted.

The government and Post Office have made great progress on delivering
compensation to postmasters through the scheme fairly and quickly, with
82% of eligible claimants having now received an offer, and with £52 million
being offered in total.

Despite this, there remain individuals who were unable to apply for the
scheme while it was open, for example due to ill health or through being
abroad. To ensure these postmasters receive the compensation they are
owed, today the government has extended its financial support to Post
Office so that it can accept eligible late applications as part of the Historical
Shortfall Scheme.

Postal Affairs Minister Dean Russell said:

“My priority is to ensure that all those impacted by the Horizon scandal
receive compensation fairly and quickly.

“By coming forward with additional funding, we are ensuring that
innocent postmasters who were unable to tap into the Historical Shortfall
Scheme do not miss out on the compensation they deserve.”

Post Office will be writing out to all individuals who have contacted them
about a late application to the Historical Shortfall Scheme to inform them of
this. The government encourages any other individuals who may have been
eligible to claim compensation under the Historical Shortfall Scheme to
contact Post Office to discuss their position.

All late applications will be managed through existing Historical Shortfall
Scheme processes, including an assessment by the Independent Advisory
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Panel, to ensure claims are considered consistently with those already
submitted.

Background information

The Post Office Horizon scandal, which began over 20 years ago, has had
a devastating impact on the lives of many postmasters. Starting in the late
1990s, the Post Office began installing Horizon accounting software, but
faults in the software led to shortfalls in branches’ accounts. The Post Office
demanded sub-postmasters cover the shortfalls, and in many cases
wrongfully prosecuted them between 1999 and 2015 for false accounting or
theft.

Published 6 October 2022

OGL

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