POH-IR1-3 Response Accepted in Part Self-assessed

Make monitoring full and fair compensation a core Board duty

Recommendation

It must be one of the core duties of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board that it monitors whether compensation payments are full and fair.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to the Official government response (2023-09-21, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/response-to-post-office-horizon-it-inquiry-interim-report-compensation), the Department for Business and Trade partially accepted this recommendation in September 2023, confirming that monitoring overall fairness of compensation payments is a core duty of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board. According to the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board (2026-01-01), the Board continues to monitor whether compensation payments are fair and timely across all schemes. According to the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board (2026-01-01), the Business and Trade Select Committee examined the adequacy of the Board's monitoring role in January 2026.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part Department for Business and Trade
21 Sep 2023

Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation in part. The Department endorses the Board's view that it "would not be possible or advisable for us to intervene in individual cases" but has confirmed that monitoring overall fairness is a core duty.

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Progress Timeline
Official Report
31 Jan 2026

Verification: Interim report recommendations largely implemented through Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Act 2024 and scheme operational changes. HSS closing date set as 31 January 2026. Sir Gary Hickinbottom appointed to oversee scheme fairness.

Department for Business and Trade government_response
21 Sep 2023

Government response: Accepted in part. Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation in part. The Department endorses the Board's view that it "would not be possible or advisable for us to intervene in individual cases" but...

Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Reasonable Progress
01 Jan 2026
Horizon Compensation Advisory Board Other

The Horizon Compensation Advisory Board continues to monitor whether compensation payments are fair and timely across all schemes. Business and Trade Select Committee examined the adequacy of the Board's monitoring role at its January 2026 session.

Horizon Compensation Advisory Board reports (publ… View Source
Source
Report First Interim Report: Compensation 17 Jul 2023
Responsible Bodies
Department for Business and Trade Primary
Recommendation age 2.7 yrs
Last formal update 31 Jan 2026