Latest news with #subpostmasters
Sky News
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News
Post Office weighs asset sales or borrowing to meet postmaster pay target
The Post Office is considering selling assets or taking on new borrowings to help deliver an ambition to boost sub-postmasters' pay by £120m this year, its chairman has said. Sky News has learnt that Nigel Railton, who was confirmed as the state-owned company's long-term chair last week, told thousands of branch managers that it had ring-fenced £86m so far to increase their remuneration. In a speech delivered in Chesterfield, Mr Railton is understood to have told sub-postmasters that the Post Office's board was redoubling its efforts to meet the target of up to £120m for pay rises. The company was exploring options including additional cost-savings, further asset sales, sale-and-leaseback opportunities, and borrowing options, he told them. One source said Mr Railton had said on Wednesday morning that without actions already taken by Post Office management, sub-postmasters would be left with pay increases this year of just 2%, rather than the 20% it had now secured. The progress towards its £120m target comes just three months after the Post Office chairman was forced to deliver a bleaker prognosis to thousands of sub-postmasters keen to have their faith restored in the scandal-hit company. In March, Mr Railton said he had yet to gain certainty from Whitehall about a £120m increase for this year. 3:06 "Our funding discussions are positive and ongoing, but I want to be honest that we are operating in a challenging financial environment," he told them at the time. The Post Office is reliant on funding from the government, and last November outlined plans for an ambitious transformation of its business, which includes a substantial number of job cuts. It remains hopeful of making up the £34m shortfall to reach its £120m target, according to insiders, as it seeks to rebuild its public and internal reputation in the aftermath of the Horizon IT scandal.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Post Office payouts 'not by kangaroo court', says oversight body
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 "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 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 Alan led a group of 555 sub-postmasters who took part in the landmark group legal action against the Post fight for justice was brought to wider public attention last year by an ITV drama about the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post 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 the Group Litigation Order (GLO) scheme, claimants can either receive £75,000 or seek their own Alan said the latest offer made to him amounted to 49.2% of his original said promises that compensation schemes would be "non-legalistic" had turned out to be "worthless".
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?
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Post Office offer amounts to just half of my claim, says Bates
Sir Alan Bates has accused the government of putting forward a "take it or leave it" offer of compensation amounting to less than half of his claim. The former subpostmaster, who has campaigned for redress for victims of the Post Office scandal, said ministers were presiding over "quasi-kangaroo courts" and altering the "goal posts" on their judgements. Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Alan said: "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." The Department for Business and Trade said: "Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts." Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT system indicated shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts. Sir Alan led a group of 555 subpostmasters who took part in the landmark group legal action against the Post Office. Their fight for justice was launched into the national consciousness 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 subpostmasters 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. How do the Post Office scandal compensation schemes work? Sir Alan said promises that compensation schemes would be "non-legalistic" had turned out to be "worthless". He has also called for an independent body to be created to deliver compensation schemes for this and similar public sector scandals. As of January, £128m had been paid under the GLO scheme, including interim payments, according to government data. A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: "We pay tribute to all the postmasters who've suffered from this scandal, including Sir Alan for his tireless campaign for justice, and we have quadrupled the total amount paid to postmasters since entering government. "We recognise there will be an absence of evidence given the length of time which has passed, and we therefore aim to give the benefit of the doubt to postmasters as far as possible. Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts, which is independent of the government." Why were hundreds of Post Office workers wrongly prosecuted? Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Post Office offer amounts to just half of my claim, says Bates
Sir Alan Bates has accused the government of putting forward a "take it or leave it" offer of compensation amounting to less than half of his claim. The former subpostmaster, who has campaigned for redress for victims of the Post Office scandal, said ministers were presiding over "quasi-kangaroo courts" and altering the "goal posts" on their judgements. Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Alan said: "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." The Department for Business and Trade said: "Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts." Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT system indicated shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts. Sir Alan led a group of 555 subpostmasters who took part in the landmark group legal action against the Post Office. Their fight for justice was launched into the national consciousness 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 subpostmasters 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. How do the Post Office scandal compensation schemes work? Sir Alan said promises that compensation schemes would be "non-legalistic" had turned out to be "worthless". He has also called for an independent body to be created to deliver compensation schemes for this and similar public sector scandals. As of January, £128m had been paid under the GLO scheme, including interim payments, according to government data. A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: "We pay tribute to all the postmasters who've suffered from this scandal, including Sir Alan for his tireless campaign for justice, and we have quadrupled the total amount paid to postmasters since entering government. "We recognise there will be an absence of evidence given the length of time which has passed, and we therefore aim to give the benefit of the doubt to postmasters as far as possible. Anyone unhappy with their offer can have their case reviewed by a panel of experts, which is independent of the government." Why were hundreds of Post Office workers wrongly prosecuted? Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
