Recommendation POH-13: Close HSS Dispute Resolution Procedure when HSSA opens
From Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry: Volume 1 Report, published 8 July 2025.
Recommendation
The current Dispute Resolution Procedure in HSS should be closed once all claimants currently within the Procedure have either (a) settled their claims or (b) transferred to HSSA. No claimant who is not in the Dispute Resolution Procedure when HSSA opens should be eligible to join the Dispute Resolution Procedure.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry recommended closing the Horizon Shortfall Scheme dispute resolution procedure once appeals open. In October 2025, Blair McDougall, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, stated that the Department for Business and Trade rejected closing the procedure to avoid unfairly restricting postmasters' choices (Blair McDougall, Oct 2025). In March 2026, the Business and Trade Committee HC 1598 acknowledged the refusal without disputing it, while finding that the wider shortfall scheme suffered from operational problems (Business and Trade Committee HC 1598, Mar 2026). The committee reported that thousands of claimants were still awaiting settlement (Business and Trade Committee HC 1598, Mar 2026).
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, in consultation with DBT, has carefully considered this recommendation, but both parties agree that it is fairer to postmasters to allow them to continue to opt to resolve their claims within the Dispute Resolution Procedure ("DRP"), should they wish to do so, and therefore will not adopt this recommendation. There are differences in the way in which claims are resolved in the DRP and the government's HSSA process and we see a benefit to allowing postmasters to continue to assert free choice in deciding how they wish to bring closure to their claim.
DBT rejects this recommendation as we believe it comes into conflict with the principle of “full and fair” redress set out as we accepted Recommendation 2. DBT’s view is that it would not be fair to postmasters to restrict their choice in this way. Nor would it be consistent with the reasonable expectations of postmasters in the light of the terms of the HSS. Many postmasters are expected to choose the HSSA process if they want to challenge their offer. However, DBT believes it is important that each postmaster decides the best route for their own case, with the benefit of funded legal advice.
Delivery
Department for Business and Trade says not accepted (13 October 2025)
The only Horizon-related recommendation that we have not accepted was closing the Horizon shortfall scheme dispute resolution process, as we believe that to do so would unfairly restrict postmasters’ choices.
From: Volume 1 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report: Government response to recommendations
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 government's rejection of this recommendation. The committee did not challenge the rejection directly but concluded the broader HSS process is dysfunctional, with Post Office Ltd's continued central role in administering redress undermining trust in the system.
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 the government rejected this recommendation. DBT stated that closing the Dispute Resolution Procedure would conflict with the principle of providing "full and fair" redress. Claimants in the DRP continued to be able to use it.
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, delivery statement