The Government has confirmed it will provide further financial
help to victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, following
recommendations from the Business, Energy & Industrial
Strategy Committee.
In a letter to Committee Chair , the Enterprise and Markets
Minister, , commits to accepting late
applications to the Historical Shortfall Scheme that was set up
to compensate wrongly convicted sub-postmasters before it closed
in November 2020.
Mr Russell confirms that the Government will provide payments of
up to £5,000 to cover additional legal support needed by
claimants who dispute their initial compensation offers. Up to
£10,000 will be available to those with more complex
claims.
His letter also states that the Government has worked with the
Post Office to provide interim payments to vulnerable individuals
who use the Dispute Resolution Process.
Chair's comments
BEIS Committee Chair said:
“These measures are another important step towards ensuring that
sub-postmasters who had their lives torn apart by this scandal
will finally get the compensation they deserve.
The Government and Post Office should be doing everything in
their power to make victims’ journey to claiming full
compensation as pain-free as possible, and so I welcome this
update.
The Committee will continue to seek updates on the progress of
outstanding claims. We also look forward to being updated on
progress with compensating those who were part of the 555 Group
Litigation Claim and those who have overturned criminal
convictions.”
