Appoint senior lawyer to ensure HSS offers are full and fair
A suitably qualified senior lawyer shall be appointed to HSS as soon as is practicable with the aim that any such appointee will take appropriate action to ensure that first offers to claimants (a) are "full and fair" (b) made to those who have submitted claims to the Post Office and which are to be assessed as soon as is reasonably practicable and (c) are made to future claimants whose claims are to be assessed within a reasonable time.
How was this assessed?
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedDepartment for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. Sir Gary Hickinbottom has been appointed as HSS Senior Lawyer to ensure that first offers to claimants are "full and fair", made to those who have submitted claims to the Post Office as soon as is reasonably practicable, and made to future claimants within a reasonable time. Enquiries can be directed to hss.islsecretariat@dentons.com.
Progress Timeline
Sir Gary Hickinbottom has been appointed to the position of HSS Independent Senior Lawyer and assumed the role from December 2025. Sir Gary has started his work and will publish a report following each investigation carried out. Sir Gary also chairs the independent panel on HCRS.
Verification: Government published formal response to Volume 1 recommendations on 13 October 2025, accepting 17 of 18 recommendations. Total compensation paid across all schemes: £1.38 billion as of December 2025. Volume 2 of Final Report expected 2026.
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.
HC 1598 noted the senior lawyer appointment was made but found the HSS remains "broken" for fully-assessed claims. Assessed offers take an average of 450 days (target: 180) and are frequently undervalued. Claimant lawyers described offers as "ridiculously low". The committee recommended all remaining complex HSS cases be transferred from Post Office Ltd to DBT.
View detailed findings
Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 (13 March 2026) examined redress delivery one year on. Key findings: £1.44bn paid to 11,300+ claimants but thousands still waiting. HSS takes 143 days average for fixed-sum offers (target: 30 days) and 450 days for assessed claims (target: 180 days). Total redress bill now approximately £2bn. Fujitsu has contributed nothing. Committee made 29 formal conclusions and recommendations across redress schemes, quashed convictions, Fujitsu contribution, and pre-Horizon (Capture) IT system concerns.
Business and Trade Select Committee noted Sir Gary Hickinbottom had been appointed as HSS Senior Lawyer. The committee questioned the extent of powers given to him to ensure first offers to claimants were fair.
View detailed findings
Business and Trade Committee held an evidence session on 6 January 2026 with witnesses from Fujitsu, the CCRC, DBT and MoJ. The CCRC revealed Horizon software may have been installed earlier than previously believed, potentially expanding the pool of eligible convictions. Over 4,000 claimants were still awaiting final settlement across all schemes at that date. Government accepted only 3 of 17 committee recommendations in full.