'Chaotic' Post Office must be stripped of Horizon compensation role say MPs
The Post Office must be removed from the Horizon IT scandal compensation process, MPs have warned in a scathing report into "abject failure" to secure justice.
The cross-party Business and Trade Committee demanded the move days after former postmaster Alan Bates pleaded with ministers to "get on and pay". The report said the Post Office is “not fit for purpose" to deliver compensation and warned its leadership is in "disarray". It says victims have no confidence in the firm that “ruined the lives of innocent sub-postmasters” and hit out at "chaos" within the organisation.
Hundreds of postmasters are still waiting for compensation despite the promises of ministers, and lawyers warned some could still face waits of up to two years. MPs heard the final bill for taxpayers likely to top £1billion - with no deal yet in place over how much software firm Fujitsu will pay.
Labour MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the committee, said victims have been waiting "far too long" for justice. He said: "It's high time for the circus of recent weeks to end and for cheques to start landing on the doormats of innocent victims.”
He added it is a "national disgrace" that victims are still waiting for compensation. Mr Byrne stated: “The spectacle of the battle between the Post Office chief executive and its former chairman light up a simple truth; that the top of the Post Office is in utter disarray and not fit for purpose to run the payouts to former sub-postmasters.
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"It’s involvement in running Post Office redress schemes has to end and ministers must create a new, independent body set up that will genuinely help victims through their every stage of their compensation claims.”
Chairman Henry Staunton was sacked in January by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who he has been locked in a bitter war of words with. He claims he was instructed to slow down payments, but Ms Badenoch denied this in an extraordinary broadside in the Commons.
And current chief executive Nick Read is the subject of an internal investigation, it has emerged. The report said Mr Read had supplied misleading evidence to the committee over non-disclosure agreements and public relations firms
It comes after Post Office hero Mr Bates last month pleaded with the committee to "get on and pay" victims of the Horizon scandal. Mr Bates, who has been leading the campaign for justice for two decades, told MPs: "There's a lot of distractions, a lot of other things brought up, thrown up all the time - but just get on and pay people."
He revealed that he had considered getting all the former subpostmasters involved in the initial High Court case to "stand as MPs when the next election comes", adding: "Then we'll sort it out once and for all."
Questioned on whether he believed the Government had got a grip of the process, Mr Bates said: "No, I'm afraid not - it's very disappointing. This has been going on for years, as you well know, and I can't see any end to it."
The Post Office said 1,000 more claims have been received since ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office was screened in January. Mr Bates, who was played by Toby Jones in the series, told the cross-party Commons Business Committee that the Post Office should be sold.
He said: "My personal view about Post Office is it's a dead duck and it has been for years, and it's going to be a money pit for the taxpayer in the years to come. You should sell it to someone like Amazon for £1, get really good contracts for all the serving subpostmasters and within a few years you'll have one of the best networks around Britain."
Meanwhile at the same hearing in February, former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, who has been locked in a bitter war of words with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, doubled down on his claim he was told to slow down payments.
Ms Badenoch has accused him of lying, but he told the committee he'd been made a "scapegoat". Mr Staunton, who was addressing the committee under oath, said he denied making "politically incorrect" remarks.
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He said allegations had come to light during a probe into chief executive Nick Read. Mr Staunton also claimed that Mr Read had told him he planned to resign because he wasn't being paid enough - but former Business Secretary Grant Shapps refused to give him a raise.
In March last year it emerged Mr Read's salary was £415,000, and he was given a £455,000 bonus the following year, some of which he later returned.
The Horizon IT system ruined the lives of hundreds of Post Office workers when it mistakenly made it look like money was missing from their branches. Postmasters were wrongly blamed for the shortfalls and made to cover the losses, with more than 900 convicted including some who were put in prison.
A Post Office spokesman said: “Post Office welcomes the direction of this report into speeding redress for one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history, and we will study its recommendations carefully. While £179m has been delivered in redress to victims of this scandal, and settlements reached with 2700 postmasters, more needs to be done.
"Post Office would have no objection to relinquishing our role in administering redress. Whatever is decided, we will continue to work with Government, Parliament and the independent Advisory Board to do everything possible to speed up justice and redress for victims of this terrible scandal.”
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