Alan Bates, the former Post Office operator who inspired the ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ will reject the government’s Post Office Horizon scandal compensation offer, describing it as “cruel” and “derisory”. Since Bates was forced to stop running his Post Office branch in 2003, he has played a significant role in the fight for justice and compensation for the more than 700 post office operators who have been wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 for theft, fraud and false accounting. What has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history was caused by faulty accounting software, called Horizon, which is still used by the Post Office today.
Installed in the late 1990s, subpostmasters quickly complained that the system had bugs after it falsely reported shortfalls - often for thousands of pounds. Many affected by the scandal say that it ruined their lives. Because contracts with the Post Office stated that post office operators were responsible for any unexplained loss, some used their own money to cover non-existent shortfalls.
Many faced bankruptcy and lost their livelihoods due to their damaged reputation and extortionate legal fees. With marriages breaking down, many families believe the stress led to debilitating health conditions and addiction, and there are four suicides linked with the scandal. A group of 555 post office operators took legal action against the Post Office in 2017. £58m in compensation was agreed to be paid to them in 2019, but much of the money was spent on legal fees.
Only 95 convictions have been overturned, even though campaigners have won the right to have their cases reconsidered. The Post Office has come under fire for late payments, with dozens of victims having died before they received compensation. It has also been criticised for tax being charged on compensation and bosses offered £1.6m in bonuses.
The Post Office has almost halved the amount set aside for payments to branch managers in December as fewer than expected have won or brought appeals. It is now holding £244m for compensation payments related to overturned convictions, down from £478m a year ago, after 38% of appeals against convictions were either turned down, withdrawn or unsuccessful. Claiming that it is only about a sixth of what he requested, Alan Bates will reject the government’s compensation offer. “‘Full and fair’ might be his majesty’s government’s interpretation, but in reality the offer is derisory, offensive and after all this time, yes, cruel,” he said to the Telegraph. “It is just a terrible way to treat human beings”.
On Wednesday, the business minister, Kevin Hollinrake, will meet union officials as well as representatives of post office operators to discuss taking the Post Office out of government.