The government has been called on by an influential committee of MPs to quash convictions obtained with data from the Post Office’s Capture software, the predecessor to the faulty Horizon IT programme.
As well as creating “urgent” legislation to have these earlier convictions quashed, a new report from the Business and Trade Committee (BTC) also called on the government to urgently investigate the scale of this miscarriage of justice.
The Capture accounting software had been used by up to 2,500 Post Office branches in the 1990s, just before the infamous Horizon system was introduced in 1999.
Using the incorrectly generated shortfalls from Horizon, hundreds were wrongfully convicted and many more went into debt, lost homes, and became ill as they attempted to plug the imagined financial gaps.
A government-commissioned report in 2024 said it was likely that Capture caused accounting errors. Following this, a state redress scheme for Capture victims who were not convicted opened last year.
Sky News uncovered a legal report which showed the Post Office knew of Capture’s flaws since 1992. A legal attempt to overturn a Capture-era conviction is appearing before the Court of Appeal.
Incomplete records mean that the current confirmed number of Capture cases may represent “the tip of another iceberg”, the report said.
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‘Unacceptable failure’ to pay
The creator of Horizon, Japanese multinational Fujitsu, also came in for sharp criticism by the committee, as it is said to have contributed nothing to the cost of redress and is still expanding revenue from public sector contracts.
As well as no money being paid, none has been agreed despite Fujitsu saying it has a moral obligation to contribute to redress. The failure to even offer an interim amount is “unacceptable”, the committee chair Liam Byrne said.
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The total cost of redress payments now stands around £2bn, the report said.
Meanwhile, Fujitsu continues to benefit from “substantial” government contracts, despite its “self-imposed moratorium” on bidding for new public contracts, the report added.
As an entirely state-owned company, taxpayers will be the main funders of redress.
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“It is simply wrong that taxpayers are covering the costs for Fujitsu’s sins while Fujitsu is still profiting from taxpayers’ funded contracts,” Mr Byrne said.
To remedy the situation, the government should seek an urgent interim payment from Fujitsu and publish all government contracts and contract extensions with the company.
‘Structural failings still blocking justice’
In the BTC’s review of the three schemes set up for victims of Horizon, Mr Byrne said: “Serious structural failings still blocking the road to justice.”
The scheme for people financially hit through having to find money for Horizon’s wrongly generated shortfalls routinely sees its offers overturned and significantly increased on appeal to the Department for Business and Trade.
This Post Office-administered scheme has “stark disparities” between initial offers and eventual awards, which the BTC said reinforces that it is no longer fit for purpose.
Fully assessed claims continue to take far beyond target timelines and thousands of late claims are still awaiting a final offer, it added.
A separate scheme for those convicted with Horizon data is performing better, the report read, but claimants are still being forced to jump through administrative hoops.
The effective guaranteed minimum £600,000 redress payment should now simply be paid in full to all eligible claimants, it said.
Progress, however, has been made in delivering redress overall as more than 11,300 claimants have received payments worth £1.44bn.
What have Fujitsu and Post Office said?
A Fujitsu spokesperson said: “We continue to work with UK government to ensure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place regarding bidding for new contracts while the Post Office Inquiry is ongoing, and are engaged with government regarding Fujitsu’s contribution to compensation.”
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A Post Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the scrutiny of the Committee and its commitment to ensuring full, fair and timely redress is paid to those harmed during the Horizon scandal. Progress has been made with 87% of eligible Horizon Shortfall Scheme applications having received an offer and £882m paid through the scheme. We are processing applications as quickly as possible to bring resolution to those who have applied. We will review the committee’s recommendations and continue to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade.”
