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Government
Legal Department
Litigation Group T 0207210 3000
102 Petty France
Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Westminster
1 Victoria Street London
Westminster SW1H 9GL
London
SW1H OET DX 123243, Westminster 12. www.gov.uk/gld
By email only: S itor@postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk
Your ref: BEISR901
Ourref: 2Z2013328/JBY/JD3
12 July 2022
Dear Sir / Madam
Post Office Horizon Inquiry — Core Participant: BEIS
Compensation to Litigants in the Group Litigation
We refer to the Chair's request on 8 July 2022 for further information in relation to the operation and
methodology of the recently announced Interim Compensation Scheme for Group Litigation Order (GLO)
claimants.
We are happy to respond to the Chair's request, and are also taking this opportunity to share information about
decisions taken to date on the Department's proposed approach to shaping a swift and fairex gratia
compensation scheme for that group.
We will continue to keep the Inquiry updated with information about interim payments and development of the
overall compensation scheme as it becomes available.
Interim compensation scheme
Minister Scully announced to Parliament on 30 June 2022 that
“The Government intend to make an interim payment of compensation to eligible members of the GLO who
are not already covered by other compensation support, totalling £19.5 million. Together with the share of
the December 2019 settlement, which we understand was distributed to the GLO postmasters, that brings
the total level of compensation to around £30 million. Postmasters will be contacted in the coming weeks to
submit an application, and we aim to distribute funds within a few weeks of receiving that application”
There are already compensation arrangements — including for interim payments — for postmasters with
overturned convictions for Horizon-related offences. These arrangements apply to postmasters who were
members of the GLO alongside their non-GLO peers. Minister Scully's announcement therefore relates only to
postmasters who were not convicted of such offences.
Gary Howard - Head of Division
Emma Parker - Deputy Director, Team Leader Planning, Infrastructure & Environment
Lexcel
Legal Practice Quality Mark
Law Society Accredited
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Rapid interim compensation has been a key request of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) and of
many parliamentarians. The Government is acutely aware of the hardships many postmasters are continuing to
face and Ministers are very keen to see interim payments made as quickly as possible.
The Government understands that the claims of the GLO litigants range from a few thousand to a million
pounds or more. In such circumstances interim compensation based on standard amounts would not work- a
standard sum would either be so low as to be insignificant for people with larger claims, or much higher than
the final compensation received by those who experienced smaller losses.
It would in principle be possible to assess each individual's interim compensation on its merits. However
Ministers are very keen to see payments made as quickly as possible, and any such assessment would take a
considerable amount of time — which would undermine the purpose of making interim payments.
Accordingly, at the JFSA’s suggestion, the £19.5 million total will be distributed to eligible individuals pro rata to
their shares of the 2019 High Court settlement in the Bates and others v Post Office Ltd case. The method of
calculating those shares was determined in the GLO proceedings pursuant to an agreed mechanism involving
a preliminary assessment by Freeths as to the circumstances of each claim. That methodology has been
selected as the only available approach which will distribute interim compensation rapidly and fairly.
The Department has contracted with Freeths to deliver these payments. Freeths has asked each GLO member
to provide confirmation of their identity and their bank details for the purpose of making this payment to them.
Once that is done, payment should be made to each within a few weeks in line with the already established
methodology.
Development of overall compensation scheme
Under the same contract, Freeths is providing the Department with information which will help inform the
development of arrangements for final compensation payments. The information will include how the
distribution of the High Court settlement was made (without disclosing details which would identify particular
GLO members), why the chosen approaches were selected and the characteristics of the GLO group. Only
Freeths can provide that information.
Drawing on the information provided by Freeths and the JFSA, and the Department's knowledge of the HSS
and OHC compensation approaches, the Department will design options for a proposed scheme for GLO
members. Ministers have previously undertaken to consult informally with GLO members on the terms of that
scheme. The Department has invited legal representatives who are known to be active on Horizon matters to
round-table discussions, which will take place before that informal consultation (see correspondence
enclosed). If any firms who have not received an invitation wish to be included in that conversation, they
should contact the Department. In these discussions Freeths will not be representing Government but — like all
other law firms involved — those clients who have instructed them.
Delivery of overall compensation
The Government does not want GLO members to be faced with a time-consuming and stressful process of
applying for fresh compensation. It recognises that they have already put substantial effort into developing
claims in the course of initiating their civil litigation against the Post Office in 2016. Government intends, so far
as possible, that this information should be reused by claimants’ legal advisers when applying to the new
scheme.
Without compromising fairness and the delivery of just outcomes, the Government aims for losses described in
this way to be presented in a relatively standardised manner. This should make it quicker and easier for
Government to process them, reducing administration costs and so, most importantly, reduce the time needed
to deliver these payments.
To support this approach, Minister Scully also announced on 30 June that members of the group will be able to
claim reasonable legal fees incurred as a result of participating in the compensation scheme. Amongst other
things, that compensation will cover the reasonable cost of making an application to the scheme. The
Government's contract with Freeths described above does not cover any part of this delivery phase.
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Compensation cover for legal costs will be available regardless of which firm the claimant chooses to instruct to
represent them in connection with the delivery of compensation.
Some GLO members may have suffered losses since the 2019 settlement. Consequently, information may be
required which did not form part of their High Court claims. If such information is required, the Government will
aim to make the process for providing this information as straightforward as possible.
Please contact us if you have any queries. The Department otherwise looks forward to the opportunity to make
oral submissions at tomorrow's hearing.
Yours sincerely
Mark Colautti
For the Treasury Solicitor
mano
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