Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation (): The Government is
determined that postmasters affected by the Horizon Scandal
receive the compensation they deserve.
The Government is today announcing further details about how
postmasters who previously accepted the Horizon Shortfall Scheme
(HSS) Fixed Sum Offer (FSO) will be able to request permission
from an independent person to appeal their award. We are also
providing an update on the recommendations from the Horizon
Shortfall Scheme (HSS) Independent Senior Lawyer on cases where
there is no evidence of a shortfall.
Permission to Appeal
Volume 1 of the Post Office IT Horizon Inquiry report recommended
that postmasters who feel they may have under settled their HSS
claim by accepting the £75,000 HSS FSO “should be afforded the
opportunity to appeal against their acceptance of such an offer
if they are granted permission to do so” by an independent
person. Being granted permission to appeal will not guarantee
that a postmaster's award will be uplifted when their claim is
fully assessed in the HSS Appeals process.
To implement Sir Wyn Williams' recommendation, the Department for
Business and Trade (DBT) has developed draft guidance for the
scheme and engaged with key stakeholders, including claimants'
representatives, the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board and
postmaster organisations. This is to ensure that the process will
be fit for purpose and meets its aims.
The FSO Permission to Appeal process will open for registrations
later this year. Postmasters who have already received an FSO
will have three months from the launch date to register and seek
permission to appeal. Those who receive FSOs in future will have
three months from the date of the offer to seek permission to
appeal. Once confirmed as eligible, they will then have a further
three months to make their application by submitting a concise
written narrative explaining why they believe that their claim
was under settled. Assessment of these requests will be
undertaken completely independently of the Department and Post
Office. A postmaster who is granted permission will be permitted
to apply to the HSS Appeals process.
DBT will fund postmasters' reasonable costs of obtaining legal
advice to understand the value of their potential claim and
prepare their narrative on the basis of a tariff(opens in a new tab)
which was discussed with legal representatives and has also been
published today. We will strongly encourage those considering
seeking permission to appeal to take up this offer and only
engage solicitors and firms that are regulated by the Solicitors
Regulation Authority (SRA), the Law Society of Scotland or the
Law Society of Northern Ireland. Additionally, postmasters should
not engage any firm which offers a ‘no-win, no-fee', conditional
fee or litigation funding agreement.
The Government has today published on gov.uk the draft Fixed Sum Offer Permission to
Appeal – Process Guide(opens in a new tab), which details the
proposed principles, eligibility criteria, stages of the process
and expectations for applicants. This provides the information
which postmasters and their legal representatives will need to
start submitting cases. We continue to welcome feedback from
stakeholders on our proposals.
DBT will work with the Post Office to ensure postmasters who
previously received an FSO are contacted upon launch to make them
aware that this process is available.
Horizon Shortfall Scheme
In December 2025, Sir Gary Hickinbottom was appointed to the HSS
as the Independent Senior Lawyer (“the ISL”) to review any
generic issues arising under the Scheme; and, if appropriate,
make recommendations to ensure full, fair and prompt redress
within the Scheme and, as far as possible, across the Horizon
redress schemes as a whole.
The DBT and Post Office referred the handling of cases without
shortfall evidence to Sir Gary for review. He has reviewed this
process and provided recommendations on it. He advised that,
subject to implementation of those recommendations, the process
is appropriate, robust and fair, and does not apply more than the
necessary burden on claimants. The Government has today published
the full report on gov.uk(opens in a new
tab). The Post Office and the Department are grateful for his
advice and have accepted his recommendations in full.
In addition to the report, we have issued guidance outlining the
procedures for managing and processing these cases to ensure
claimants have a clear understanding of how their claims will be
handled. The Post Office and the Department are committed to
providing full and fair redress for those affected by the Horizon
scandal. We consider that this revised process will ensure that
applicants will obtain that redress in a manner that is fair to
all claimants. DBT will continue to work with Post Office to
ensure claims are processed as quickly as possible.
I will keep the House updated as this work progresses.
