WITNO1220103
WITNO1220103
WITNESS: NICHOLA ARCH
STATEMENT NO: WITN0122_03
EXHIBIT: WITNO122_01/3
EXHIBIT 3
The following documentation comprises the exhibit referenced as exhibit 3
in the witness statement of Nichola Arch referenced WITNO122_01.
WITNO1220103
WITNO1220103
eS Department for Business, Energy &
Industrial Strategy
Department for 1 Victoria Street
London
Business, Energy SW1H OET
& Industrial Strategy
T +44 (0) 20 7215 5000
Nichola Arch E enauiries@beis.gov.uk
i W = wwwgov.uk
Our ref: TOSL2021/19271
1 October 2021
Dear Mrs Arch,
Thank you for your email of 1 August to the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, about interim payments
for postmasters with quashed convictions. Your correspondence has been passed to the
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. I have been asked to reply and I
sincerely apologise for the delay in responding.
The Government understands the serious impact that issues arising from faults with the
Horizon IT system, and the Post Office’s management of these issues, have had on affected
postmasters’ lives and livelihoods. The Government recognises the distress that postmasters
and their families have suffered since faults with the Horizon system began, with some having
their livelihoods and businesses taken away and some convicted of crimes that we now
know they did not commit.
The Post Office has accepted that it got things wrong and has apologised. However, the
Government has been clear that this apology must only be the start of a process that leads to
a real and fundamental change in the Post Office.
The Government announced on 22 July that it would provide the Post Office with support to
make interim payments of up to £100,000 per eligible postmaster whose conviction is
quashed. Only postmasters who were convicted using evidence reliant on Horizon, who then
have their conviction quashed, would be eligible for an interim payment. As you were
acquitted, you would not be eligible for compensation by this route, though you are able to
pursue a claim for malicious prosecution.
I hope this response is helpful to you.
Yours sincerely,
U.Fatania
BEIS CORRESPONDENCE UNIT