Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 February 2026
Letter from the Post Office relating to the Committee evidence session on 6 January on Horizon scandal redress, 19 January 2028
From: Business and Trade Committee
Inquiry: Post Office Horizon scandal: Justice for sub-postmasters
Summary
Post Office Chair Nigel Railton responds to the Business and Trade Committee's questions following January 2026 evidence on Horizon scandal redress. The letter updates on progress: £548 million paid via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme in 2025 alone, disclosure request turnaround now averaging 21 days, and 471 fully assessed offers issued in 2025. Post Office confirms data integrity measures, confirms 37 FTE staff on disclosure work, and commits to resolving methodology differences between schemes.
Key findings
- Nearly £548 million paid out in Horizon Shortfall Scheme in 2025, with an eight-fold increase in claims closed compared to 2024.
- Post Office received 80 disclosure requests for Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme; average completion time reduced to 21 days in last six months (from initial 58-day average).
- 37 full-time equivalent staff dedicated to disclosure activities within Remediation Unit, supporting both HCRS and broader redress schemes.
- Post Office acknowledges significant differences in settlement offers between HSS and HSSA schemes, partly due to lack of up-front legal advice in HSS; commits to applying HSSA methodology where appropriate.
- Post Office setting up post-conviction disclosure exercise for postmasters convicted while Capture system was in use; working with CCRC on approximately 30 pre-Horizon Capture-related cases.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Nigel Railton, Post Office Limited, Liam Byrne MP, Department for Business and Trade, Criminal Cases Review Commission, Ministry of Justice, Joanne (Post Office witness, surname not given), Minister McDougall
Notable line
“2026 will be the year where we substantively complete redress in the HSS.”
Key Quotes
“… nearly £548 million having been paid out in the Horizon Shortfall Scheme in 2025 alone and an eight-fold increase in the number of claims closed last year compared to”
“The overall average time to complete a disclosure request is 58 calendar days, mainly due to the higher volumes of requests which came through when we were initially building out a robust process. The average time per case for the last six months has reduced to 21 days.”
“The resource dedicated to disclosure activities within the Remediation Unit is 37 full-time equivalent roles, excluding support staff and managers.”
“… offers in the HSSA were often multiples higher than in the HSS. As Joanne indicated during Mr Maynard ' s questioning …”
“… in total 471 fully assessed offers were issued in the period January to November 2025, with a total of 288 of these claimants having accepted their offers”
“Post Office 's role in directly administering redress is coming to an end. Working closely with the Department for Business and Trade, I hope, like you, that 2026 will be the year where we substantively complete redress in the HSS.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗