Recommendation POH-8: Require HSS first offers match Independent Advisory Panel recommendation
From Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report, published 8 July 2025.
Recommendation
In HSS the Post Office shall be obliged to make, and the Department shall be obliged to approve (when necessary) a first offer to a claimant which is no less than the sum recommended by the Independent Advisory Panel.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry recommended that Historical Shortfall Scheme (HSS) first offers match panel recommendations. In a February 2026 update published in March 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that no first offer has ever been made below the sum recommended by the HSS Panel and claimants are informed of this upon receipt of their offer (Cabinet Office, Mar 2026). In January 2026, the Business and Trade Select Committee heard that no first offer had been made below panel recommendations, meaning retroactive enforcement had not been needed (Business and Trade Select Committee, Jan 2026). The Department for Business and Trade stated in October 2025 that scheme documents had been amended to reflect this requirement (Department for Business and Trade response, Oct 2025).
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
Post Office has always made first offers to claimants that are no less than the sum recommended by the Independent Advisory Panel for HSS and will continue to do so.
This does not require any retrospective changes because no first offer has ever been made which is less than the sum recommended by the HSS Panel. The scheme documents have been amended to reflect this.
Delivery
Cabinet Office says completed (2 March 2026)
No first offer has ever been made which is less than the sum recommended by the HSS Panel. Claimants are informed of this upon receipt of their offer.
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
Business and Trade Select Committee heard that no first offer had ever been made in HSS below the sum recommended by the Panel, meaning the requirement in this recommendation had not needed to be enforced retroactively.
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
- Post Office Ltd
Response - Department for Business and Trade
Response - Cabinet Office
Delivery statement