Retired high court judge to lead Horizon inquiry

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Retired High Court Sir Wyn Williams has been chosen to lead the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, which will start its work immediately.

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Williams, who has over 28 years’ judicial experience, will head up the non-statutory inquiry, which aims to ensure there is a public summary of the failings that occurred at Post Office Ltd, and to make sure something like this cannot happen again.

It follows Post Office Ltd reaching a settlement of £57.75m in December 2019 to conclude a long-running civil court case brought against it by a group of postmasters over issues related to its Horizon IT system.

The terms of reference for the inquiry have been expanded following feedback from former postmasters since they were first published in June. The inquiry will also assess whether lessons have been learned and concrete changes have taken place or are underway at Post Office Ltd.

Postal affairs minister, Paul Scully, said: “The Horizon dispute had a hugely damaging effect on the lives of postmasters and their families, and its repercussions are still being felt today.

“It is essential that we determine precisely what went wrong at the Post Office during this period, so we can ensure the right lessons have been learnt, and establish what must change to make sure this cannot happen again.

“That is why, having listened to former postmasters, we are expanding the scope of our inquiry to ensure it gathers evidence to build on Mr Justice Fraser’s findings, and have invited a retired High Court judge with a wealth of experience to lead it.

Williams added: “I am determined that the inquiry will provide the forum for a thorough and rigorous examination of all the evidence presented and that a report will be produced which all participants in the Inquiry and the wider public will recognise as having addressed the terms of reference constructively and in detail.

“I fully understand that my engagement with participants in the inquiry will be crucial to achieving my aims.”

The inquiry will obtain all available relevant evidence from Post Office Ltd, Fujitsu, and BEIS from the period in question.

Among other things, the inquiry will examine the governance and whistleblowing controls now in place at Post Office Ltd and whether they are sufficient to ensure that the failings that led to the Horizon case do not happen again.

It will be able to make any recommendations it sees fit.

Both Post Office Ltd and Fujitsu, which supplied the Horizon system, have committed to fully cooperate with the inquiry.