Victims of second Post Office IT scandal set for compensation, minister says

Alleged victims of a second IT scandal at the Post Office will get compensation “where detriment has occurred”, minister Kevin Hollinrake has said.

It follows weeks of reporting by i on claims from sub-postmasters that they suffered shortfalls caused by Capture, a piece of accounting software developed in-house by the Post Office and rolled out in the 1990s.

And in a precursor to the Horizon scandal which began in 1999, sub-postmasters say they were wrongly sacked, forced to hand back money and in some cases criminally prosecuted.

Kevan Jones, the Labour MP who has been campaigning for Horizon victims for years, raised their plight in an urgent question in the House of Commons on Thursday.

The government is due to give a ministerial statement regarding plans for legislation to overturn Horizon convictions, of which there are at least 900, en masse at midday.

“If we are going to overturn convictions, it can’t just be about the Horizon system,” Mr Jones told postal affairs minister Mr Hollinrake.

“Evidence which I’ve put into the public inquiry, which I sent to him yesterday, clearly indicates that the scandal pre-dates Horizon in terms of Capture.

“They need to be included in both the compensation scheme and also in overturning convictions.”

Mr Hollinrake replied: “In terms of Capture, he’s regularly brought this up and it’s something we’re keen to engage with him on to make sure those are included within any compensation where detriment has occurred.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.