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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsSir Alan Bates’s concern, reported on 2 January 2025, was that claimants’ legal costs could be paid from the £1.8bn government allocation for Horizon redress, leaving less of that allocation for payments to victims. The Department for Business and Trade’s director for Post Office policy told the Business and Trade Committee that the allocation included claimants’ legal fees. That does not establish that a known amount was deducted from any individual claimant’s award.
What was Bates concerned about?
In a report published on 2 January 2025, Computer Weekly quoted Bates saying he had “very serious concerns about subpostmaster legal costs being taken out of the financial redress pot.” He argued that the money should be “ring-fenced for financial redress for victims, not paying their legal costs.”
The issue was how to understand the £1.8bn allocation announced in the October 2024 Budget. Computer Weekly reported that Carl Creswell, the Department for Business and Trade’s director for Post Office policy and business engagement, told the Business and Trade Committee that the allocation covered redress costs including claimants’ lawyers’ fees. Bates’s concern was about that funding arrangement; the report did not identify a specific sum taken from an individual award or show that a claimant’s compensation had been reduced by a stated amount.
The committee was also pressing for legally binding deadlines, financial penalties for delay, removal of Post Office from administering schemes, upfront legal advice for claimants and independent adjudicators. It called for the costs of government lawyers to be made public.
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Was £1.8bn a fixed compensation cap?
No. The £1.8bn was an allocation announced in October 2024, not a final cap on the cost of redress. In a written answer on 26 March 2026, the UK Parliament reported an estimated £2.3bn in Horizon spending to date and future commitments. The answer said neither the Horizon nor Capture schemes had a cap; the final cost would depend on the number of claimants and the circumstances of their claims.
These figures refer to different things. The £1.8bn was the October 2024 funding allocation described in Computer Weekly’s January 2025 report. Parliament’s later £2.3bn estimate included spending to date and future commitments. Neither figure, by itself, says how much an individual claimant should receive, or how much of the total represents claimant redress rather than other costs.
How much has been paid, and when?
Payment totals are dated snapshots, not a single running comparison of identical measures. The figures below come from different publications and dates; the later figures should not be read as though all were recorded on the same day or covered precisely the same categories.
| Figure | What it describes | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| £499m paid | Payments across four redress schemes by November 2024. Computer Weekly said 72% of the £1.8bn allocation remained unpaid at that point. | Computer Weekly, 2 January 2025; payment position as of November 2024. |
| Approximately £1.475bn paid to more than 11,500 claimants | Parliamentary answer on Horizon compensation payments. | UK Parliament written answer HL15737, answered 26 March 2026; figures as of 27 February 2026. |
| More than £1.44bn distributed to more than 11,300 claimants | Committee-reported payment snapshot. | Business and Trade Committee, 13 March 2026. This is an earlier, separately reported snapshot. |
| £596m more paid; almost 6,000 more claims settled | Progress during the year to 30 April 2026. The government also reported receiving more than 4,600 additional eligible claims. | UK Government response to the committee, received 22 May 2026; period to 30 April 2026. |
The Department for Business and Trade’s transparency page was last updated on 11 September 2026 and lists financial redress data as of 28 August 2026. No August total is stated here. The separate scheme figures below illustrate why a headline payment total should not be treated as a complete breakdown of every kind of spending or commitment.
Which schemes administer redress?
The schemes have different administrators and application positions. The Post Office’s Horizon FAQ identifies who administers each scheme; the government’s May 2026 response describes the Horizon Shortfall Scheme’s closure to ordinary new applications and the possibility of exceptional late claims.
| Scheme | Administrator | Application status stated in the sources | Payment information stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Litigation Order Scheme | Department for Business and Trade (DBT) | Not stated in the cited scheme-status material. | No scheme-specific payment total stated here. |
| Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS) | DBT | Not stated in the cited scheme-status material. | The March 2026 committee report said HCRS was performing better than HSS, while criticizing the process around a £600,000 minimum redress payment for eligible claimants. |
| Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) | Post Office | Closed to ordinary new applications on 31 January 2026. Timely applications continue to be processed; the government response also allows for exceptional late claims. | Approximately £943m paid, including interim payments, as of 30 April 2026. This included approximately £629m in fixed-sum awards to 8,394 claimants and around £119m in top-ups to previously settled claimants, according to the government response. |
| Capture Redress Scheme | DBT | Not stated in the cited scheme-status material. | No scheme-specific payment total stated here. |
Claimants should check the scheme-specific government or Post Office information for eligibility, application routes and any applicable deadline. The scheme names alone do not establish which route applies to a particular person.
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Are delays and award decisions still in dispute?
Yes. In March 2026, the Business and Trade Committee said HSS offers were routinely overturned and significantly increased after DBT appeals. It also reported that fully assessed cases were taking longer than target times and that thousands of late claims were awaiting final offers. The committee described HCRS as performing better, but criticized the process surrounding the £600,000 minimum redress payment for eligible claimants.
The government’s response, received on 22 May 2026, disagreed with some recommendations and said it accepted or partly accepted 11 of the committee’s 14 recommendations. It also said some payments could extend beyond 2026, including because claims were late or complex. The committee’s chair, Liam Byrne, said on 13 March 2026 that “For hundreds of sub-postmasters, justice has come far too slowly.”
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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →These reports describe scrutiny and disagreement about delivery; they do not establish that every claim is delayed or that every offer is wrong. For a claimant, the relevant practical questions are which scheme is handling the case, whether an appeal route applies, and what the scheme says about the status of that particular claim.
Has Fujitsu contributed to the bill?
As of the Business and Trade Committee’s report on 13 March 2026, Fujitsu had not made an interim contribution to the redress bill and had not agreed a figure, despite acknowledging a moral obligation to contribute. That is the position reported at that date; it should not be treated as confirmation of Fujitsu’s status after March 2026.
What the budget figures mean for claimants
Bates’s 2025 objection was about the possibility that claimants’ legal fees would be funded within the same allocation as redress payments. The later parliamentary figures show that £1.8bn was not a final scheme cap: Parliament reported a £2.3bn estimate for Horizon spending to date and future commitments and said Horizon and Capture had no cap. Payment totals, scheme operating costs, legal fees and future commitments are distinct categories, so a headline allocation or total should not be read as a direct measure of an individual award.
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