BBCSir Keir Starmer has responded to a letter from Sir Alan Bates calling for faster compensation payments for postmasters impacted by the Post Office scandal, the prime minister’s spokesman has said.
Sir Alan wrote to the PM twice in the past month, urging him to ensure victims receive full financial redress by March next year.
The former sub-postmaster told MPs earlier he was still awaiting a response, before the prime minister’s spokesman said later on Tuesday that a reply had been issued.
Last week, the government announced that £1.8bn has been set aside for people affected by the Horizon IT scandal, in addition to various compensation schemes already announced.
Between 1999 and 2015 hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT accounting system made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.
Sir Alan, portrayed in a ITV drama which thrust the scandal back into the spotlight earlier this year, leads the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance and was giving evidence to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
The hearing is considering fast and fair redress for victims of the Post Office scandal and a key point for Sir Alan, which he has made before, is that the government needs to set deadlines for compensation to be paid.
He told MPs he had twice written to the prime minister in the past month to say “it needs to be finished by the end of March 2025”.
A No10 spokesman said the PM responded to Sir Alan earlier on Tuesday, and added the government is committed to getting quick redress for victims, but is wary of setting an “arbitrary cut-off” date that could see some claimants miss out.
“We want redress as quickly as possible,” he said. “What we don’t want to do is set an absolute cut-off date which would result in some claimants missing the deadline.
“But each postmaster eligible should receive substantial redress by the end of March.”
Campaigners have criticised the amount of time it is taking for those affected to receive compensation. Many sub-postmasters were wrongly sent to prison for false accounting and theft, and several more were financially ruined. Some have died waiting for justice.
The PM’s spokesperson said as of 31 October, approximately £438m had been paid to more than 3,100 claimants across the four compensation schemes.
‘Like a battle’
Janet Skinner, now in her 50s, is still waiting for her compensation. Her claim has been in the system for more than two years.
“This is supposed to help people. It’s more like a battle,” she said of the compensation process.
She was handed a nine-month sentence in 2007 over an alleged shortfall of £59,000 from her Post Office branch in Bransholme, Hull.
She served three months in prison before being released with an electronic tag, but eventually had her conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in April 2021.
The stress of the scandal left her with neurological problems, leading to paralysis in parts of her body which she is learning to move again. She said she has been asked for a fifth time for a medical report to prove her disability was as a result of the scandal.
At the committee, lawyers were asked about their experience of the Horizon Shortfall compensation scheme, which is overseen by the Post Office.
This compensation scheme is for sub-postmasters who were not convicted, or part of the Group Litigation Order (GLO) court action, but who believe they experienced shortfalls because of Horizon.
David Enright, whose law firm represents hundreds of Post Office victims, said there is no funding for legal advice at the start, with claimants presented with a “DIY questionnaire”.
Then, six to nine months later, he said there is a request for more information which often involves 50-150 further questions that can only be answered by the likes of a forensic accountant.
“The system is designed to wear people down,” he told MPs.
Another lawyer said some of his sub-postmaster clients were being asked to provide proof of losses in claims that are 20 years old, but cannot to do so because the evidence had been previously seized by the Post Office and not given back.
The GLO scheme is for the 555 former postmasters who won their group lawsuit, but received relatively small payouts after legal costs were paid. The scheme is funded and managed by the government.
