The Chair of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry has urged legislative change to resolve issues blocking full and fair compensation being delivered to sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.
In his interim report, Sir Wyn Williams highlighted concerns arising from the hearings surrounding compensation, bankruptcy and taxation. During the hearings, he heard from numerous subpostmasters who were affected by the Horizon technology.
“Such evidence left me in no doubt that there was a compelling need to provide compensation to all those who had suffered loss and damage which properly reflected their pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses,” said Williams.
He referenced commitments by numerous representatives of the Post Office and Government over a period of nearly three years to provide compensation which is “full and fair”. He said he does not consider there is any valid legal reason why the Government and the Post Office cannot give effect to these commitments.
Sir Wyn says the commitment must apply with equal force to the compensation payable under all three schemes – the Historical Shortfall Scheme (HSS), the Overturned Historic Convictions Scheme (OHCS), and the Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLOS).
Sir Wyn has also raised concerns about how bankrupted sub-postmasters are treated. He cited evidence of one insolvency practitioner, Moore UK, is insisting that compensation payments which have been made to applicants previously made bankrupt are part of such a bankrupt’s estate and recommended the government take action on the situation.
In his report, Sir Wyn added that his “primary concern is that all recipients of compensation from each scheme are treated equally in terms of their exemption from tax.” He welcomed a recent update from the Treasury saying that it intends to take action to ensure equal treatment across all schemes in terms of exemptions from inheritance tax.
Despite this update, Sir Wyn says he is “far from satisfied” that those administering or making assessments under the Group Litigation Order Scheme (GLOS) are fully aware of the difficulties that may still exist in relation to the apparent exemption from income tax, in particular. “There is still a lack of clarity as to the basis upon which tax is payable (or not payable as the case may be) under the various schemes.”
He recommended that that the Department for Business and Trade publish in as much detail as it reasonably can and as soon as it reasonably can, proposals for ensuring that applicants to all schemes are treated equally and fairly so far as their liability to or exemption from income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax is concerned.
He also criticised the Historical Shortfall Scheme (HSS) about the progress it has made.
“I am left with the distinct impression that the most complex cases have not been addressed as speedily as might have been the case.” He has previously raised concerns about the short application window for claiming under the HSS and how the Post Office handles ‘late’ applications to the scheme.
In response, a Post Office spokesperson said:
“We welcome Sir Wyn’s interim report and share his view that victims of the Horizon scandal must be provided with full compensation, fairly and consistently. This remains our priority. Across Post Office’s compensation arrangements, offers totalling more than £120m have been made to around 2,500 Postmasters, with the majority of these agreed and paid. Interim payments continue to be provided in cases not yet fully resolved.
“Regarding late applications to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, we can confirm that we continue to accept eligible late applications and publish data each month showing the progress we’re making in resolving these applications and the level of compensation paid.”
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