The UK government has launched an investigation into software used by subpostmasters before the controversial Horizon system was rolled out, and has opened up new routes to compensation for scandal victims.
Despite compensation of over £1.7bn being paid to more than 14,000 victims of the Post Office scandal in Horizon redress schemes, there are claims of remaining unfairness and people being left out.
Furthermore, the government is launching a new investigation into pre-Horizon software and the impact of its errors. This includes the Capture system, which, like Horizon, led to unexplained losses and destroyed lives, including subpostmasters being convicted of crimes based on its data.
“To ensure no stone is left unturned in uncovering the full extent of issues affecting subpostmasters, a new independent investigation into software used before Horizon has also now been confirmed,” the government said.
There has already been an independent investigation into Capture by forensic experts at Kroll, which found there was a “reasonable likelihood” the Post Office software had caused accounting losses, but a new investigation could look deeper at the problems it caused.
Other systems such as ECCO+ have been pointed to as error-prone and likely to cause unexplained shortfalls that subpostmasters were forced to pay for, but beyond Computer Weekly investigations and work by campaigner Rupert Lloyds Thomas and the National Federation of Subpostmasters, little has been done to support affected users.
New redress paths
On financial redress, the government said it has introduced “a new package of measures to provide pathways to conclusion for schemes, strengthen scrutiny and fairness, and investigate pre-Horizon software”.
New deadlines have been set for applications to a scheme for former users of the Post Office’s Capture system, which will now close on 31 March 2027, and a redress scheme for those wrongly convicted of crimes based on evidence from Horizon, which will close to new submissions on 27 July 2027.
Over £9m has so far been paid to claimants through the Capture redress scheme, but claimants believe the sums they received fall well short. Earlier this month, Computer Weekly revealed that the husband of a former subpostmaster and Capture user, who had her financial and mental health destroyed at the hands of the Post Office, is preparing a judicial review to challenge the government’s financial redress decision.
Ken Tooby warned the government that he will apply for judicial review of the decision to award him less than a third of a claim submitted on behalf of his late wife, June Tooby, who was blamed for losses recorded on the organisation’s faulty Capture software.
As reported previously by Computer Weekly, another former subpostmaster, Lee Bowerman, received a financial settlement offer through the Capture redress scheme that equated to just 7% of his professionally calculated claim.
Bowerman, who lost his business in South Wales more than 30 years ago, was part of a group that helped the government design the scheme.
He complained that consequential losses were not included in the offer and that there was limited opportunity to appeal decisions on redress awards. He called for parity with former Horizon users, who were also affected in the Post Office scandal.
The Horizon Shortfalls Scheme (HSS) is also being changed, with a new independent review process being introduced for subpostmasters who were previously told that there is insufficient evidence to receive a fixed sum offer of compensation.
A new independent review process will also open next month for people who accepted HSS fixed sum offers and believe their claims were undervalued.
Following the latest government announcement, Post Office minister Kate Dearden said: “We must never lose sight of the suffering caused by the Horizon and Capture scandals. Behind every pound of compensation paid is a person whose life has been turned upside down by the scandal.
“We remain unwavering in our commitment to provide fair, comprehensive and timely redress to all those affected and ensure that a scandal like this never happens again.”
The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history (see below timeline of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal since 2009).
