Legislation to exonerate hundreds of former subpostmasters of convictions based on evidence from the Post Office’s unreliable computer system has begun its journey through Parliament.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill, announced in January, will quash the convictions of hundreds of people prosecuted by the Post Office for financial crimes after the Horizon computer system they used in branches showed unexplained accounting shortfalls.
Under the bill, subpostmaster convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting will be automatically quashed if they were prosecuted by the Post Office or Crown Prosecution Service for offences carried out in connection with Post Office business between 1996 and 2018. It includes convictions of subpostmasters, branch employees, family members or direct employees of the Post Office working in a branch that used the Horizon system software.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “We owe it to the victims of this scandal who have had their lives and livelihoods callously torn apart to deliver the justice they’ve fought so long and hard for, and to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Affected subpostmasters will receive an interim payment towards financial redress or can take a final payment of £600,000.
The bill may face pressure from MPs to be amended if it fails to remove the Post Office from the process of delivering financial redress for former subpostmasters and set hard deadlines for payments. Liam Byrne MP, who chairs the business and trade select committee, told Computer Weekly he believes there will be enough support for amendments in the House of Commons if the bill does not include these.
“We owe it to the victims of this scandal who have had their lives and livelihoods callously torn apart to deliver the justice they’ve fought so long and hard for, and to ensure nothing like this ever happens again” Rishi Sunak, prime minister
Computer Weekly exposed the scandal in 2009 with an investigation into problems experienced by seven subpostmasters, including Alan Bates and Noel Thomas in North Wales, Lee Castleton in Bridlington and Jo Hamilton in Hampshire. All four featured in the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office. (See below for timeline of all Computer Weekly articles about the scandal.)
Between 2000 and 2015, 736 subpostmasters were convicted of crimes including theft and false accounting after the Post Office prosecuted them using evidence from the Horizon retail and accounting system used in thousands of branches.
The Horizon system was proved to be error-prone during a High Court legal battle that began in 2018. Led by former subpostmaster Alan Bates, a group of 555 members of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) sued the Post Office to prove that errors in the Horizon system were causing unexplained accounting discrepancies. Since then, over 100 former subpostmasters and branch staff have had convictions overturned, but with hundreds more outstanding, the slow pace of appeals forced the government to act.
Business minister Kemi Badenoch said: “It is absolutely right that we sweep away the convictions wrongly given to postmasters on the basis of bad evidence, and it is a disgrace that they were ever pursued by the Post Office.”
The government faced a dilemma. It had a choice of each case going through the normal appeals process, prolonging the injustice, or introducing a blanket overturning of convictions but risk some people who had committed crimes being cleared and receiving compensation. The government opted for the latter.
A government statement said: “The government acknowledges the risk that this legislation could quash convictions of people who were genuinely guilty of a crime. In line with the wishes of campaigners, the government will make all efforts to ensure this is targeted on those wrongly convicted and make sure nobody who defrauded the system is able to access taxpayer-funded compensation.”
To this end, before receiving financial redress, appellants will be required to sign a legal statement vowing that they did not commit the crime for which they were originally convicted. “Any person found to have signed a statement falsely in order to gain financial redress may be guilty of fraud,” said the government.
Lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice Alex Chalk MP said the introduction of the legislation was a watershed moment for subpostmasters.
“These are exceptional circumstances which require an exceptional response to ensure those who were wrongly convicted can not only clear their names, but be fairly and swiftly compensated.”
“It is essential that we get this bill passed as soon as possible before summer recess so those affected can get the justice and compensation they have fought so long for” Kevan Jones, MP
Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham and long-time campaigner for justice for subpostmasters, said: “It’s great news that the government has taken the advice of the independent advisory board, on which I sit, and introduced the Post Office Offences Bill.
“It is essential that we get this bill passed as soon as possible before summer recess so those affected can get the justice and compensation they have fought so long for,” he added.
Solicitor Neil Hudgell of Hudgell Solicitors, which represents hundreds of former subpostmasters, welcomed the legislation. “We welcome the start of the passage of this legislation through Parliament to the eventual exoneration of many innocent people,” he said. “We look after over 100 former subpostmasters whose convictions have yet to be set aside. For them, that day cannot come soon enough.
“Beyond that, we again welcome government’s intention to provide full, fair and speedy compensation. We are always open to working with them to see how that can best be delivered. At present, there remain too many hurdles in place, and renewed effort and focus is needed.”
