Well what a week it has been. The war that Post Office started is ongoing but we are ticking off the battles one by one. Paula Vennell's CBE is gone, Announcement on Overturning convictions and also the resolution of the so called 'public interest' cases. Those were the handful of cases where Post Office had tried to maintain the position Horizon wasn't essential to their prosecution, but to determine there was a shortfall the figures came from Horizon. I am pleased that with Monday's announcement they will be able to access compensation inline with the over overturned cases. If you hadn't heard of the Post Office Scandal a couple of weeks ago or the level of destruction it has inflicted upon thousands of Postmasters and their families you certainly have now. Following the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office the media coverage has been relentless. We have seen many victims give interviews for the first time, opening up wounds and trauma going back as far as two decades, it is impossible not be shocked and moved by the pain these people have suffered. This has in turn lit a fire in the political spectrum that saw the House of Commons packed for Mondays announcement and subsequent debate. The public outcry and rage is more than justified. What we must do now is ensure this pressure is maintained until every person that has been caught up in this terrible scandal is returned back to the position they would have been in had this not happened as much as financial redress can do that and then the focus will move solely to accountability. The worry is as time drags on more and more of these Postmasters, Postmistresses, Post Office workers and their families continue to suffer and sadly some have already passed away without justice. Without continued pressure and focus we will continue to see more people pass away without seeing their name restored and justice delivered.
The Post Office ran Shortfall Scheme has been nothing short of a disaster and a deliberate attempt to minimise payouts. Back in 2021 I wrote to Nick Read the current CEO about the problems I was seeing with the amounts paid to Postmasters within that scheme, I also alerted the Postal Minister at the time. Fast forward almost 3 years, the problems persist and we have a lot more data to confirm it. Yesterday highly respected tax lawyer Dan Niedle wrote what I called a dynamite thread on 'X' (twitter) completely demolishing this scheme. They paid one claimant £15.75, that is not a typo as Dan rightly pointed out, 'Fithteen Pounds and Seventy Five Pence'!!! Have a read here about what he had to say :-
https://www.taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/01/11/hss_scandal/
The Horizon Compensation Advisory Board discussed this scheme and the issues it faces at their meeting late last year. Currently there are around 2,000 settled claims in that scheme and I would suggest 80% or more of those claims were made without legal assistance because Post Office offered nothing towards those costs. The offer of legal assistance is only given once an offer has been made, it is too late then as the claim is framed and even still at £1200 as I had pointed out a long time ago this is barely enough to cover reviewing the terms of the offer/settlement never mind looking into the claims and awards made. They are trying to make plans on how these claims will be reviewed and/or re-opened. A disaster that could have been averted had those people who have been alerted on numerous occasions by myself and others actually taken notice. Here we are almost 4 years after this scheme launched and looking at revisiting up to 2,000 of these claims. I think they need to complete and settle the outstanding claims currently in dispute and then create an external body to review the previous settled cases. It is going to be yet more unnecessary expense to put this mess right.
The major concern for the original trailblazers (555) as they seem to have become known, upon which I am one of them is that the GLO scheme setup from them is mirrored on all the same guidance and principles as the above HSS scheme. The governments own line is the scheme is designed to give fairness and parity in line with those in the HSS. That is a huge problem if the scheme it is mirroring is a scheme which is now known to be fundamentally flawed. The government, Department for Business and Trade and the Minister can parrot all they like it is an independent scheme, with an independent reviewer because what matters is the underlying guidance and principles and terms of reference those people have to adhere to. It has in my view been deliberately designed to limit the redress paid and make it as difficult as possible to get the money to those who have been so deeply affected by this. Here are some extracts from the relevant documents about the operation of the scheme :-
'Section 1.1.1 - This document sets out the underlying principles that will govern the assessment of any claims under the Scheme and provides guidance in relation to such claims.'
Even with a final arbiter/reviewer in place and mediators Dentons to oversee the process, it cannot in my opinion succeed. The reason for that is the reviewer is limited by the below section of the 'Terms of Reference' document that was designed and setup by the Department for Business and Trade. Very much like the Post Office they are controlling the narrative, where it states the reviewer has to be guided 'in line with the Guidance Principles.' If those principles themselves are flawed this scheme cannot and will not succeed in its objectives shown in section 1.1.2.
The Independent Reviewer (the Reviewer) will apply his independent judgement to individual cases, guided by considerations of fairness and in line with the Guidance and Principles.
'Section 1.1.2 - The central goal, and the key overarching principle, of the Scheme is to deliver compensation to eligible postmasters that is full and fair, restoring them to the position they would have been in had it not been for the Horizon-related actions of the Post Office.'
Both the HSS and the GLO are not fit for purpose. Until we create an external body that is chaired by a High Court Judge where neither Post Office nor Government set the terms of reference and guiding principles Postmasters will never be put back into the position they would have been in had this scandal not happened. The external body would work solely on established legal principles used under tribunal or court settings surrounding unfair dismissal, return of repaid shortfalls and damages for the suffering inflicted on these people. So as Dan Niedle proposed and I have asked you all previously about the convictions, please write to your MP to put political pressure to get this situation resolved. Do not allow them to swallow the narrative from the government, the department and the Minister that this is being resolved properly, the evidence contained in this update is proof that it is not. I had mentioned in the last update that I had a professionally prepared claim, using employment, tax records, forensic accountants (paid for by government) and a lawyer to submit the claim, and the offer came back at 13% of that fully quantified and supported claim. During recent TV, radio and Newspaper interviews I had said had it come back at 50% of the claim, at least you were half way there and could enter negotiations in order to reach agreement and settlement on the claim. That now seems an impossible task.
The last template I designed to be sent to MP's was downloaded over 20,000 times. So I have created a new one for you to download and use, please if you have time and can add your own points to make it unique and standout. You can download a copy of the template here :-