Recommendation POH-6: Appoint senior lawyer to ensure HSS offers are full and fair
From Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report, published 8 July 2025.
Recommendation
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.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked ministers to appoint a senior lawyer to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. In June 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that Sir Gary Hickinbottom assumed the post of Independent Senior Lawyer in December 2025 and completed work on his first referral, with his full report to be published in due course (Cabinet Office, Jun 2026). In May 2026, Blair McDougall, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, stated to Parliament that the appointee's remit is to review generic issues and recommend actions to ensure prompt and fair redress (Blair McDougall, May 2026). In March 2026, the Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 acknowledged the appointment but found that assessed claims took an average of 450 days and were frequently undervalued (Business and Trade Committee HC 1598, Mar 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Sir Gary Hickinbottom, currently Chair of the Independent Panel on HCRS, has been appointed to the position of HSS Senior Lawyer. We will continue to work with the Post Office on the practical implementation of Sir Gary’s appointment, and he will assume the role shortly. In the meantime, any enquiries on Sir Gary Hickbottom’s appointment should be directed to the Secretariat, Dentons, using the following email address, hss.islsecretariat@dentons.com.
Delivery
Cabinet Office says completed (16 June 2026)
Sir Gary Hickinbottom has been appointed to the position of HSS Independent Senior Lawyer and assumed the role from December 2025. Full details on Sir Gary's role and issues under review are published on gov.uk. Sir Gary has completed work on his first referral and his full report will be published in due course. Sir Gary also chairs the independent panel on HCRS.
From: Post Office (Horizon) Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, May 2026 (data file)
Department for Business and Trade says partially delivered (20 May 2026)
In December 2025, Sir Gary Hickinbottom was appointed to the HSS as the Independent Senior Lawyer (“the ISL”) to review any generic issues arising under the Scheme; and, if appropriate, make recommendations to ensure full, fair and prompt redress within the Scheme and, as far as possible, across the Horizon redress schemes as a whole.
From: Horizon Shortfall Scheme Fixed Sum Offer Permission to Appeal process and Independent Senior Lawyer
Site note: The written statement does not number the recommendation. The passage reports the appointment of an independent senior lawyer to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, which recommendation 6 asks for. The recommendation also asks that the appointee act to ensure that first offers are full and fair and are made promptly; the passage gives the lawyer's remit and says nothing on that, so the site records the recommendation as partially delivered on this statement.
Earlier statement on delivery (1)
Cabinet Office (2 March 2026)
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.
From: Post Office (Horizon) Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, February 2026 (data file)
Published evidence
Published findings referenced by inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether the finding is independent or government self-reported. Each finding is this site's summary of what the source found, with a link to the source; this site does not add its own progress rating.
Summary by this site of the published finding
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.
Summary by this site of the published finding
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.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department for Business and Trade
Response, delivery statement - Cabinet Office
Delivery statement