Emphasizing that the process is dragging on too long and is further upsetting individuals seeking justice, an influential parliamentary committee has demanded the Post Office be removed from running the redress systems for victims of the Horizon crisis. With delays still afflicting the Post Office redress systems, the Horizon affair has left many victims awaiting recompense.
The Commons Commerce and Trade Committee underlined in a report released this Wednesday, one year after the ITV drama Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office attracted public attention, that victim compensation was still being paid fast enough. The committee also recommended that should the process fail to accelerate and the Horizon crisis victims continue to suffer; the government should be subject to financial sanctions.
How Affecting Victims Are Legal Fees and Delays?
The paper also discovered that state-owned Post Office Ltd had paid shockingly £136 million on legal bills connected to the four Horizon redress systems. Of this sum, Herbert Smith Freehills, one law firm, received payment of £82 million for legal advice on the two Post Office compensation schemes. This legal bill alone explains 27% of the redress paid thus far, underscoring the system’s inefficiencies and delays—particularly in the Post Office redress process.
“Years on from the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, thousands of Post Office Horizon victims still don’sdon’t have the redress to which they’s-they’re entitled to the shatter and ruin of their life,” the Labour MP chairing the committee said, expressing his irritation over the matter.
He said, “Our country values fair play and the rule of law. Still, victims informed us that getting the reparation to which they are entitled is like going through a second trial. People are dying before they ever obtain justice because of sluggish payments. The lawyers are leaving with millions, nevertheless. This is just simply incorrect, wrong, wrong.
Comprising four horizon compensation schemes, what are they?
Four compensation plans have resulted from the Horizon affair, which has impacted thousands of post office employees throughout the UK. Two of these are run by the Post Office: the Horizon shortfall scheme (HSS), for post office operators not engaged in the high-profile group litigation headed by former operator Alan Bates, and the overturned convictions scheme, which pays victims whose convictions were overturned by courts.
The Department of Business and Trade runs two more plans: one for group litigation claimants and another for people whose convictions were reversed by Parliament instead of the courts.
A key player behind the group litigation, Alan Bates, has voiced his worries, warning that should all claims not be settled by March of this year, he will consider pursuing legal action.
Why Should the Government Consolidate the Redress Systems?
The parliamentary committee also pointed out that although progress has been made, the redress systems are still “poorly designed” and that payments remain “not fast enough.” To guarantee quicker and more effective compensation for victims, the committee advised the government to take over the running of the two Post Office-operated programs.
The paper claims that just £499 million of the £1.8 billion allocated for reparations has been used thus far. Furthermore, 14% of people who applied to the Post Office-run HSS before the original 2020 deadline have still not gotten compensation for their claims.
The committee concluded that the government had to move quickly to solve the problems as the delays and incompetence have put victims in a somewhat challenging environment.
How are the Post Office Handling Committee Findings?
“Working alongside government, we are focused on paying redress as swiftly as possible,” a Post Office spokesman said in response to committee findings.
The spokesman added that the Post Office regularly examines its expenditure with outside law firms, stressing that many legal fees had been allocated to create the Horizon deficit fund and the overturned convictions restitution system. The spokesman said that the Post Office has been able to pay victims of the scam reparations thanks in part for this expenditure.
Acknowledging that this could be the best way forward to speed the process, the Post Office also said it would support the government assuming management of the two Post Office-run projects.
What is the legal firm's stance on fees?
Herbert Smith Freehills, the law company taking the most significant portion of the legal expenses, justified its prices. A firm spokesman said: “We are confident that our legal fees are at the expected level for such work.”
Victims and their supporters demand justice as the pressure grows for a quicker Horizon scandal resolution. Now under close examination is the Post Office’s participation in the redress procedure and demands for government intervention to guarantee equitable and speedy compensation distribution.
The government must ensure that Horthat Dizon scandal victims find justice and pay what they are due. Without closure from the continuous delays in the Post Office redress systems, many need their procedure accelerated.
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