Postmasters won't all get payouts March - minister

Sub-postmasters impacted by the Horizon IT ungraded volition not each person compensation payments by March adjacent year, the government's Post Office curate has said.

Gareth Thomas said it would beryllium "difficult" to execute specified a deadline, aft calls from erstwhile sub-postmaster and campaigner Sir Alan Bates.

Sir Alan urged the authorities to acceptable a March 2025 deadline to wage fiscal redress for each the sub-postmasters progressive successful the archetypal ineligible enactment against the Post Office which uncovered the scandal.

Thomas said helium agreed with Sir Alan that faster advancement connected compensation payments to each victims was needed.

"I privation I could perpetrate to Sir Alan’s clip frame," helium told BBC Breakfast, adding: "I deliberation we volition person made important advancement by adjacent summer."

Sir Alan has been heavy captious of the magnitude of clip it is taking for victims of what has been described arsenic the biggest miscarriage of justness successful British ineligible past to person fiscal redress.

Between 1999 and 2015, much than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted aft the faulty Horizon IT accounting strategy made it look similar wealth was missing from subdivision accounts.

Some sub-postmasters ended up going to prison, portion galore much were financially ruined and mislaid their livelihoods. Some died portion waiting for justice.

Sir Alan leads the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance, campaigning for fiscal redress for the 555 victims who took portion successful the landmark radical ineligible enactment against the Post Office that culminated successful 2019.

Their compensation was, however, swallowed up by the immense ineligible costs progressive successful bringing their case.

The authorities went connected to acceptable up a circumstantial compensation money progressive successful the Group Litigation Order (GLO) to springiness these sub-postmasters the redress similar others affected, but advancement has been slow.

Last month, Sir Alan said the Department for Business appeared to beryllium trying to get distant with paying retired arsenic small arsenic imaginable to victims portion maximising the income for the ineligible firms involved.

He questioned whether the authorities was dragging the "issue retired to exhaust victims until their deaths" and if the strategy has go a "gravy train" for its lawyers.

A full of £265m has been spent connected lawyers relating to the Post Office ungraded from 2014 to 2024.

Sir Alan said said the March deadline was needed for the GLO redress arsenic it was 3 years since that peculiar compensation strategy was announced.

Post Office curate Thomas, who was appointed pursuing Labour's wide predetermination victory, told the BBC: "I hold with him, [Sir Alan] we request to marque faster progress.

"We are trying to unblock the blockages and velocity up the process of compensation," helium added.

"There are 4 compensation schemes successful place, 2 of which the authorities runs, and 2 of which the station bureau runs. I person looked astatine whether we should conscionable commencement afresh but that would pb to further delays successful getting wealth retired of the door."

Deadlines for payments person antecedently been ruled retired for fearfulness that immoderate sub-postmasters mightiness beryllium timed retired of claiming compensation.

There isn't a azygous compensation strategy for sub-postmasters to use to and eligibility is dependant connected the circumstances of an individual's case. The 4 main schemes are aimed astatine groups of victims who had antithetic experiences of the scandal.

According to the latest authorities figures, external, 201 of the eligible 492 sub-postmasters successful the GLO strategy person received their payments successful full.

Of the hundreds of members of the GLO group, 63 had transgression convictions and truthful are not eligible for this strategy but they are eligible for different compensation - depending connected however their convictions are being overturned.

Sir Alan has said helium would beryllium prepared to spell backmost to tribunal if "excuses" were made astir further delays to fiscal redress, adding helium would beryllium gathering with caller instrumentality firms to sermon the matter.

Thomas, the Post Office curate said: "My message...to him [Sir Alan] is support holding our feet to the fire."