Latest news with #AlanBates
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Guernsey Electric price increases will 'overhwhelm poorest'
Guernsey's electricity supplier is being urged by a woman who is unable to work for health reasons to rethink its decision to raise Guernsey Electricity Limited (GEL) announced last week its standing tariff will rise 8% from £68.25 to £86.75 per quarter from July. The States Trading Supervisory Board (STSB) said the increases are needed because it is not "commercially sustainable" for GEL to keep borrowing to cover infrastructure costs. Islander Clare Martin receives income support due to being unable to work following cancer treatment and said the hike will be "overwhelming" for islanders on low incomes. It comes after GEL rates increased by 13% in 2023 and by 10% in Martin developed a rare blood cancer in 2023, which meant she had to stop work and undergo months of intensive chemotherapy treatment in Southampton. She said when she first heard electricity prices were set to increase she felt "really overwhelmed and scared". "I am already in debt with the electric because of being in hospital and having no family to help with that - its really overwhelming," she said. She now fears being unable to afford day-to-day living costs, and says she is left with £40 a month after paying for her electricity. She said: "There are a lot of people out there that are in a similar situation unable to work."It's not only the physical side of things but the mental aspect as well, because you worry - where will I get the extra money from?"GEL CEO Alan Bates said the increases are needed to ensure the company remains operational. "It's not about creating anything new for the future, this is just really keeping us where we are today so we don't see more power cuts or faults in the road," he told BBC Radio Guernsey.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Guernsey Electricity CEO says price rises 'needed for reliability'
An above-inflation price rise will allow Guernsey Electricity Ltd (GEL) to maintain the reliability and security of the island's electricity supply, according to the company's week GEL announced an 8% price rise, with the standing charge set to go from £68.25 to £ to BBC Radio Guernsey, CEO Alan Bates said: "It's not about creating anything new for the future, this is just really keeping us where we are today so we don't see more power cuts or faults in the road."Mr Bates said more money would be needed for the company's future plans, adding: "Investment today is very much about standing still." The company had originally asked the States Trading Supervisory Board, which oversees GEL, to raise prices by 9.5%.Mr Bates said the lower price increase would "slow down" some of the companies planned activity. How much are prices going up? The 8% increase is being spread among the standing charge and the price per unit of electricity, the company charge - rising from £68.25 to £86.75 per quarterStandard tariff- rising from 23.89p to 24.77p per unitSuper Economy tariff (peak rate) - rising from 25.31p to 26.45p per unitSuper Economy tariff (off peak) - rising from 11.40p to 12.26p per unitGEL said a typical domestic customer with electric heating would pay about £57 more a those without electric heating will pay about £35 more a quarter quarter.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alan Bates's 'kangaroo court' claims denied
Compensation for sub-postmasters is not being decided by a "kangaroo court", the body overseeing the payouts has said, pushing back against allegations made by Sir Alan Bates. Sir Alan, who led the campaign for justice, said he had been made a "take it or leave it" offer that was less than half the amount he was claiming. The "goal posts" had moved and claims had been "knocked back", he said, in ways he saw as unfair to sub-postmasters, many of whom have been waiting years for redress. However, the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board has rejected his criticism, saying it was following a process agreed by Sir Alan, designed to resolve the outstanding cases. Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Alan had suggested the process was not following established standards, describing it as a "quasi-kangaroo court". The board, made up of parliamentarians and academics, issued a statement on Tuesday saying: "We do not agree [with the criticisms]." It said Sir Alan had been "closely involved" in setting up the process for deciding compensation, which included a final assessment from a "highly respected" judge. "That was what happened in Sir Alan's case," the board said. "It is only a 'take it or leave it' decision in the sense that at some stage the matter has to come to an end and someone has to decide, in order to bring fair closure to so many who have been harmed." Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT system indicated shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts. Sir Alan led a group of 555 sub-postmasters who took part in the landmark group legal action against the Post Office. Their fight for justice was brought to wider public attention last year by an ITV drama about the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The government went on to set up a specific compensation fund to ensure these sub-postmasters received extra money to reflect the gravity of their situations, but progress has been described as slow and many are still waiting for a payout. Under the Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme, claimants can either receive £75,000 or seek their own settlement. Sir Alan said the latest offer made to him amounted to 49.2% of his original claim. He said promises that compensation schemes would be "non-legalistic" had turned out to be "worthless". Post Office offer amounts to just half of my claim, says Bates Why were hundreds of Post Office workers wrongly prosecuted? How do the Post Office compensation schemes work?
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former sub-postmistress 'still fighting' for full compensation
A former County Tyrone sub-postmistress has said she is "still fighting" to get back all of the money she is owed as a result of the Post Office IT scandal. More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted because of incorrect information from the Horizon computer system showed missing payments from their branch accounts. It comes after Sir Alan Bates, who led a redress campaign for victims, wrote in the Sunday Times that his compensation offer was less than half of his claim. The Department for Business and Trade said: "Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts." Fiona Elliott bought a Post Office and shop in the rural village of Clady in County Tyrone with her husband in 2005. She said that she was putting thousands of pounds of her own money to cover shortfalls logged in the system. "Now I'm still fighting to get it back," she told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme. Mrs Elliott said she first applied for compensation as a result of the scandal five years ago, but added that she has only been offered 5% of what she believes she is entitled to. She previously told the Post Office Inquiry in 2022 that her losses, including wages and the repossession of buy-to-let properties, was about £1m. "It feels like we have to beg to get it back," she said. "I lost the shop, the Post Office and then I lost buy-to-let properties as well." She added that complex cases, like hers often, face delays when it comes to compensation being paid out. Mrs Elliott said she has appealed her compensation total three times, and has now been advised to apply for the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS). This scheme is for sub-postmasters who were not convicted or part of the Group Litigation Order court action, but who believe they experienced shortfalls because of Horizon. This group will be offered a fixed payment of £75,000 or can have an application assessed by the scheme. Mrs Elliott said she feels she has wasted "five years on a scheme that wasn't going to pay me out anyway". "It's just like starting over again. "You're constantly begging with them and constantly appealing and it's just going on too long." Mrs Elliott said she is not sure of how much faith she has in the scheme, and that many sub-postmasters are still waiting to be paid. "I don't think there's very many who have got their full and fair redress and I'm only sitting at a 5% offer at the minute and to get it to 100% it could be a long road," she said. She added that she believes many will take a lower offer than what they're entitled to because they don't want to fight anymore. "I'm going to keep going until the end," she added. In a statement a spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "We pay tribute to all the postmasters who've suffered from this scandal, including Sir Alan for his tireless campaign for justice. "We have quadrupled the total amount paid to postmasters since entering government." The statement added that it recognises there will be an "absence of evidence given the length of time which has passed" and therefore will give the benefit of the doubt to postmasters. "Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts, which is independent of the government," it added. Why were hundreds of Post Office workers wrongly prosecuted?
STV News
25-05-2025
- Business
- STV News
Sir Alan Bates calls Post Office compensation schemes as ‘Quasi-Kangaroo Courts'
Sir Alan Bates has criticised the Government's handling of compensation for victims of the Horizon IT scandal, describing the process as resembling 'quasi-kangaroo courts.' The former subpostmaster and justice campaigner said he was recently offered a compensation amount that he claims is less than half of what he initially requested. Writing in the Sunday Times, the 70-year-old said: 'The sub-postmaster compensation schemes have been turned into quasi-kangaroo courts in which the Department for Business and Trade sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses. 'Claims are, and have been, knocked back on the basis that legally you would not be able to make them, or that the parameters of the scheme do not extend to certain items.' Between 1999 and 2015, over 900 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted due to errors in the Horizon IT system, which falsely suggested financial shortfalls in their accounts. It is thought that more than 2,000 sub-postmasters are still waiting for compensation related to the Horizon IT scandal. / Credit: PA Many are still awaiting full compensation, despite the previous government announcing payouts of up to £600,000 for those with overturned convictions. A specific scheme – the Group Litigation Order (GLO) – was created for the 555 claimants who had sued the Post Office in the High Court from 2017 to 2019. Under this scheme, claimants can either accept a fixed £75,000 payment or negotiate a bespoke settlement. Disputed claims are reviewed by an independent panel, with a final appeal option to former High Court judge Sir Ross Cranston. Sir Alan, whose story featured in STV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office, said earlier promises that the compensation process would be 'non-legalistic' have proven 'worthless.' He is now calling for an independent body to oversee compensation not only for this case but for future public sector scandals. Knighted last year for his justice efforts, Sir Alan founded the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA). It's believed that around 80% of claimants in Sir Alan's group have either accepted their full settlement or received the majority of it. A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade responded: 'We deeply respect all those affected by this scandal, including Sir Alan, for his determined advocacy. Since taking office, we've quadrupled total payouts to postmasters. We understand that evidence may be limited due to the passage of time, so we strive to give postmasters the benefit of the doubt. Those dissatisfied with their offer can request an independent panel review, entirely separate from government influence.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
