12th Report - Government compensation schemes

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 88 9 September 2026
Report Status Response status not verified Recorded deadline: 9 Nov 2026

Missing links do not establish that no response was published. A linked document does not verify responses to individual findings.

Conclusions & Recommendations 29 items (1 rec)
Source View on Parliament website

No response data available yet.

Recommendations & Conclusions

29 results
1 Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took oral...
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took oral evidence from several public bodies administering compensation schemes – the Cabinet Office, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Department of Business & … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
2 Conclusion
Government compensation schemes are expected to provide people who have experienced harm, either directly or...
Conclusion
Government compensation schemes are expected to provide people who have experienced harm, either directly or indirectly, from the actions or inaction of public bodies with the compensation or financial redress they are rightly entitled to. The NAO’s report examined the … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
3 Conclusion
We also received written submissions from a range of different sources including voluntary sector organisations,...
Conclusion
We also received written submissions from a range of different sources including voluntary sector organisations, academic and researchers as well as wider government stakeholders. A list of the written evidence is available on the inquiry page of the Committee’s website.3 … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
4 Conclusion
By February 2026, the government had paid around £3.5 billion in total across the seven...
Conclusion
By February 2026, the government had paid around £3.5 billion in total across the seven schemes examined by the NAO, with up to another £11.4 billion potentially yet to be paid. The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme alone is estimated to … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
5 Conclusion
Some compensation schemes, such as the Windrush and some of the Horizon IT schemes, experienced...
Conclusion
Some compensation schemes, such as the Windrush and some of the Horizon IT schemes, experienced significant issues in their early stages.5 For example, schemes’ initial assumptions about likely claim volumes and processing capacity were often wrong, contributing to backlogs and … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
6 Conclusion
There remains substantial variation across schemes in how long claims take to conclude, capacity for...
Conclusion
There remains substantial variation across schemes in how long claims take to conclude, capacity for greater transparency and clarity during the claim process and scope for more structured and consistent cross- government learning.8 The independence of schemes, and their design … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
7 Conclusion
Most respondents to our survey reported feeling the scheme they had experience of felt unfair,...
Conclusion
Most respondents to our survey reported feeling the scheme they had experience of felt unfair, and 76% of people said the claim process was distressing or retraumatising. Over the first year of the Windrush compensation scheme, the Home Office received … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
8 Conclusion
We asked the departments whether they agreed that having the body that caused the original...
Conclusion
We asked the departments whether they agreed that having the body that caused the original harm administering the subsequent compensation scheme was a poor way to establish trust. The Home Office said that it understood why there is deep scepticism … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
9 Recommendation
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams recommended that the government...
Recommendation
The Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry led by Sir Wyn Williams recommended that the government should establish a standing public body to “devise, administer and deliver schemes for providing financial redress” to persons harmed by the action or inaction of … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
10 Conclusion
We asked the Cabinet Office why there is still no permanent central body to oversee...
Conclusion
We asked the Cabinet Office why there is still no permanent central body to oversee and advise how compensation schemes are administered. The Cabinet Office acknowledged the merits of a single body independently administering schemes in a consistent way but … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
11 Conclusion
Officials from compensation schemes across government attend eight- weekly meetings of a cross-Whitehall network to...
Conclusion
Officials from compensation schemes across government attend eight- weekly meetings of a cross-Whitehall network to share updates on schemes, learning and best practice. The NAO’s report found that these meetings are helpful opportunities for Departments to raise questions on operational … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
12 Conclusion
We asked the Departments how they had learned lessons from what went wrong with earlier...
Conclusion
We asked the Departments how they had learned lessons from what went wrong with earlier compensation schemes. DBT told us that it learnt lessons as it continued to administer the Horizon IT compensation schemes and applied the learning from earlier … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
13 Conclusion
Sir Alan Bates told us of the importance of establishing an organisation that learns lessons...
Conclusion
Sir Alan Bates told us of the importance of establishing an organisation that learns lessons from those involved with compensation schemes, including for example victims and lawyers.29 Shaila Pal, Director of the King’s Legal Clinic at King’s College London and … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
14 Conclusion
We asked the Cabinet Office whether there should be a permanent body within government that...
Conclusion
We asked the Cabinet Office whether there should be a permanent body within government that is learning lessons from what went wrong with earlier schemes. Cabinet Office told us that it is the natural place for such learning, considering it … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
15 Conclusion
The departments have not always launched schemes before gaining a clear understanding of issues facing...
Conclusion
The departments have not always launched schemes before gaining a clear understanding of issues facing affected communities. On the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, Post Office Limited initially expected only a few hundred applicants but by the initial claim deadline of November … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
16 Conclusion
Kate Burt, Chief Executive of the Haemophilia Society, told us that Government could have avoided...
Conclusion
Kate Burt, Chief Executive of the Haemophilia Society, told us that Government could have avoided problems experienced by the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme if it had early engagement with affected communities – before the scheme launched.37 She said that the … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
17 Conclusion
We asked the departments whether they agree that there needs to be more co-design with...
Conclusion
We asked the departments whether they agree that there needs to be more co-design with victims on future schemes as early as possible. The Cabinet Office told us that co-design is essential for compensation schemes, because it believes it is … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
18 Conclusion
The NAO’s report found that three schemes extended the time periods over which they are...
Conclusion
The NAO’s report found that three schemes extended the time periods over which they are open to new claims after the schemes were launched, recognising that many eligible claimants had not applied within original timescales.42 It also found substantial variation … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
19 Conclusion
Peter Gibson, Chief Executive Officer of Fighting With Pride, expressed serious concern that government has...
Conclusion
Peter Gibson, Chief Executive Officer of Fighting With Pride, expressed serious concern that government has not sufficiently resourced publicity and outreach on the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme, or proactively identified and engaged eligible claimants. He told us that government should … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
20 Conclusion
We asked MoD why it has not written to all potentially eligible veterans through the...
Conclusion
We asked MoD why it has not written to all potentially eligible veterans through the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme. MoD told us it was doing all it could to promote the scheme, but it could not contact all eligible veterans … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
21 Conclusion
Representatives of victims told us that prolonged delays in settling claims were unacceptable and had...
Conclusion
Representatives of victims told us that prolonged delays in settling claims were unacceptable and had serious consequences for victims. Reverend Clive Foster informed us that Windrush victims were waiting 14 months to get a result on a claim in 2020, … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
22 Conclusion
We asked the Departments why there is such substantial variation in the time taken to...
Conclusion
We asked the Departments why there is such substantial variation in the time taken to settle claims. DBT responded that it is waiting for people to submit full claims on the Horizon Compensation Schemes and it is keen to pay … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
23 Conclusion
Compensation schemes often require claimants to provide extensive evidence to demonstrate their eligibility for the...
Conclusion
Compensation schemes often require claimants to provide extensive evidence to demonstrate their eligibility for the scheme.56 However, the evidence we heard suggested that the evidential requirements on too many schemes have become overly burdensome and onerous for the claimants, and … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
24 Conclusion
Sir Alan Bates told us that the Horizon schemes had become complex and legalistic in...
Conclusion
Sir Alan Bates told us that the Horizon schemes had become complex and legalistic in nature, increasing both the time taken to resolve cases and the cost of administering schemes60. He acknowledged that the Horizon schemes were intended to be … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
25 Conclusion
We also asked about differences between schemes in access to legal support.
Conclusion
We also asked about differences between schemes in access to legal support. The Home Office told us that it was struck by the contrast between Windrush and the Horizon schemes in access to funded legal advice, explaining that Windrush was … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
26 Conclusion
Representatives of victims have expressed a need for greater transparency and clarity about how long...
Conclusion
Representatives of victims have expressed a need for greater transparency and clarity about how long the claims process is expected to take, and have been critical about the lack of information provided to victims about how long they might wait … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
27 Conclusion
Peter Gibson from Fighting With Pride told us that the MoD initially promised victims regular...
Conclusion
Peter Gibson from Fighting With Pride told us that the MoD initially promised victims regular updates during the claim process, but this did not come to fruition, and it also said the MoD launched the scheme without delivering its online … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
28 Conclusion
Our survey of individuals with experience of government compensation schemes found that two-thirds of people...
Conclusion
Our survey of individuals with experience of government compensation schemes found that two-thirds of people had irregular or no communication during the claim process. Of total respondents to our survey, 53% felt 69 Q89 70 C&AG’s Report, para 14 71 … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details
29 Conclusion
We asked the Departments what feedback they had received from victims about transparency during the...
Conclusion
We asked the Departments what feedback they had received from victims about transparency during the claim process and what it was doing to address feedback it received. DBT told us it amended the claim guidance on the Horizon Compensation Schemes, … Read more
HM Treasury
View Details