Developments in the Post Office scandal’s exposure moved slowly for many years, with each phase often feeling like a geological time period for its victims.
Things accelerated after the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office aired in the first week of 2024, when the scandal hit the political and public conscience like a meteorite. But still, unravelling 20 years of malfeasance, government failures and cover-ups isn’t going to be quick.
Two years have passed since ITV broadcast its dramatisation of the Post Office scandal, and it has been 16 years since Computer Weekly first exposed the computer problems that triggered it.
It is a decade since subpostmasters affected by the scandal began their journey to the High Court, when in 2015 they began preparing a group litigation order to prove computer problems caused the account shortfalls they were blamed for.
Another six years have been and gone since court judgments confirmed this. At the time of those judgments, the Post Office was forced to open its first compensation scheme for subpostmasters affected by the scandal, yet some are still waiting for fair settlements.
The first wrongful convictions of subpostmasters blamed for account shortfalls were overturned five years ago, yet many others still wait.
It is also half a decade since the Metropolitan Police opened the first criminal investigation into potential crimes committed during the scandal, and it is about 20 months since a national police investigation was launched, known as Operation Olympos.
The statutory public inquiry looking into the scandal began hearing oral evidence four years ago, and it has already been over a year since this part of the inquiry ended.
That’s just a few of the developments, which gives an idea of the lethargic nature of unravelling the scandal. In fact, the time that has passed since Computer Weekly exposed the scandal, in 2009, is longer than the period of time the Post Office prosecuted subpostmasters for Horizon shortfalls (2000 to 2015).
Frustratingly for those affected, in a year’s time, in the inevitable subsequent article to this, there will still be years to go before the scandal and its fallout is no longer in train.
Computer Weekly published more than 80 articles about the scandal in 2025 alone. So, what will 2026 bring?
Public inquiry report, part two
The publication of the Post Office scandal public inquiry’s second report is undoubtedly the most significant event expected this year. The first report, which focused solely on the human impact of the scandal (phase one) and compensation, said there was a “real possibility” that 13 suicides had been caused by the scandal.
The public inquiry chair, former judge Wyn Williams, said: “The picture which has emerged and is described in my report is profoundly disturbing.”
In his 162-page report, Williams said at least 10,000 people had been impacted to different degrees as a result of the flawed Horizon IT system and the Post Office’s response to phantom losses, which it falsely attributed to subpostmasters.
Read more about phase one of the public inquiry
Part two of Williams’ report will be far wider reaching, covering the other six phases of the inquiry.
These phases, which ran for two years from late 2022, looked at the Horizon IT system, its operation, legal action against subpostmasters, redress, governance, and current practice and procedures.
There is no set date for publication this year.
Police investigation updates
In 2024, the Metropolitan Police set up a national investigation – now known as Operation Olympos – into the Post Office scandal.
In the latest update, last month, the investigation had eight suspects and 53 persons of interest. Police have said the investigation is focused on the offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice, but charges of corporate manslaughter are also being considered.
There will be further updates during this year, but it is expected to be 2027/2028 before any trials of Fujitsu and Post Office staff might begin.
The getaway driver and the government
If the Post Office was the criminal mastermind behind the scandal, Fujitsu was the getaway driver. Beyond the public inquiry revealing the extent of the supplier’s involvement and the police investigating it, there is the small matter of it paying a major contribution to the huge cost of the scandal. Hundreds of millions of pounds might just be a starting point, once its share of the blame is made clearer by the final public inquiry report.
Fujitsu’s changed relationship with the government and the wider business sector will also be interesting to watch. The company is already losing government business as a result of public anger and is being snubbed by companies in the private sector concerned about their own reputations.
Read more about Fujitsu’s role in the Post Office scandal
Capture all victims
After the first conviction of a subpostmaster based on the Capture system was referred to the Court of Appeal last year, it took campaigners past another landmark.
The Capture system, which was used before Horizon, hit the headlines following the ITV dramatisation of the Post Office scandal, when former users spotted similarities to their own experiences.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is reviewing about 30 prosecutions based on data from Capture. It has referred one to the Court of Appeal so far.
But in another twist, the referral of a conviction of a former subpostmaster who was prosecuted for shortfalls when using yet another system, known as Automatic Payment Service (APS) and Automatic Payment Terminal (APT), could encourage other subpostmasters to come forward.
Another system, ECCO+, was mainly used in Post Office-owned Crown branches. But when subpostmasters took over Crown branches, they also used the software. There have been stories of major problems linked to ECCO+, and others could emerge.
Horizon replacement project
Underlying all the scandal-related activity is an ongoing project to replace the system that caused the problems in the first place.
At the end of the 2018/19 group litigation order, where subpostmasters proved that Horizon errors were causing unexpected account shortfalls, the Post Office knew it was time to replace the system. Yet six years on, it is still running the businesses of thousands of subpostmasters – and still producing account discrepancies in the process. Meanwhile, Fujitsu continues to rake in millions of pounds in contract payments.
Things have moved on, but not that smoothly.
The big hope was the New Branch IT project, which involved an in-house software build to replace Fujitsu’s Horizon, but amid rising costs and delays, it was labelled “unachievable”. Failures like this have meant Fujitsu has received extension after extension of its controversial contract.
But now it appears the days really are numbered for Horizon and Fujitsu at the Post Office. The organisation finds itself going back to what insiders had argued for in the first place, with an off-the-shelf system being sought.
Fujitsu will be out, although possibly not until 2028, and the government has put out a tender for an off-the-shelf alternative to Horizon and another for a supplier to run Horizon until the new system is up and running, although this might not be until 2033.
Computer evidence review
The rules around computer evidence in court also had a hand in the wrongful prosecutions and convictions of subpostmasters. The Post Office used its private prosecution powers to send subpostmasters to court, or threaten them with court to scare them into covering unexplained shortfalls with their own money.
In 1999, a new rule on the use of computer evidence in court was introduced, which went on to enable the Post Office to prosecute and destroy the lives of innocent subpostmasters.
It replaced the rule which stated that computer-based evidence should be subject to proof that the computer system was operating properly at the time of the alleged offence, which meant defendants had to prove the computer wasn’t working at the time of the alleged crime, leaving subpostmasters with little chance.
But since awareness and understanding of the Post Office scandal has grown, including the overturning of the convictions of hundreds of people, the government has agreed to review this rule, calling on experts for their views. Developments are expected this year.
Read more about the court rule that fuelled the Post Office’s prosecution rampage
Compensation
Then we have the hugely important matter of fairly compensating victims. Will this year at least see all the victims paid?
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 the Horizon accounting system from Fujitsu (see timeline of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal below).