More than £1 billion paid to those wronged by Horizon scandal, Government says
More than £1 billion has been paid in financial redress to subpostmasters wronged by the Horizon IT scandal, the Government has said.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said money has now been paid out to more than 7,300 subpostmasters across all Horizon-related redress schemes.
The announcement comes just weeks after lead campaigner and former subpostmaster Sir Alan Bates said the schemes had 'turned into quasi-kangaroo courts'.
Sir Alan told the Sunday Times last month that DBT 'sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses'.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.
Many are still awaiting compensation.
In figures published on Monday, DBT said £559 million has been paid out to 6,337 claimants from the Horizon shortfall scheme.
The data also says that of the 555 people who joined Sir Alan Bates in taking the Post Office to court between 2017 and 2019, also known as the Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLO), 488 have received £167 million between them.
Elsewhere, £245 million has been paid out to 463 subpostmasters who had their convictions quashed by legislation put in place last summer, and £68 million has been paid to those who have had their convictions quashed in the courts, DBT said.
Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said: 'Since entering Government, it has been our priority to speed up the delivery of compensation to victims of the Horizon scandal and today's milestone shows how much progress has been made.
'We are settling cases every day and getting compensation out more quickly for the most complex cases, but the job isn't done until every postmaster has received fair and just redress.'
Post Office chief executive Neil Brocklehurst said: 'I welcome the news that over £1 billion has been paid to victims of the Horizon IT Scandal.
'Each week we are seeing more people receive their final settlements so they can begin to look beyond this painful chapter of their lives.
'However, I am also aware that more work remains to be done so that all victims receive full redress as quickly as possible and this is an absolute priority for the Post Office.
'And finally, to anyone else who thinks they may have been affected, I encourage you to come forward and apply for redress.'
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