Government unveils independent review into Horizon case

Small business and postal affairs minister, Paul Scully, unveiled the draft terms of reference for the review in the House of Commons.

It follows Post Office 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.

Scully said: “The Horizon dispute and court case has had a devastating impact on the lives of many postmasters, and I have been deeply moved by the individual stories of those I have spoken to. It is so important that a case like this can never happen again.

“That is why this government is committed to establishing an independent review to ensure that lessons have been learned, and that concrete changes have taken place at Post Office. We are keen to see the review launch as soon as possible, and the publication of draft terms of reference today is an important step toward this.”

The terms of reference and the final timings for the review are subject to confirmation by the chair, who will be appointed in due course, and who will be fully independent of the Post Office and the government.

The Post Office has welcomed the news. A spokesperson said: “It is as much in the interests of Post Office as it is in the interests of postmasters to ensure that issues of the past are resolved and that the lessons learned inform the wide-ranging reforms being undertaken.”

The spokesperson added: “We have made wide-reaching improvements in the support we provide, from initial recruitment and training, through to the support for daily transaction accounting. These are being set out for every postmaster, detailing responsibilities and commitments which support them to build thriving businesses, serving the UK’s communities.”