Ministers declared that it will lessen “unnecessary bureaucracy” in providing financial support to sub-postmasters who were traumatized by the crisis involving defective IT software called Horizon that resulted in hundreds of employees being wrongly accused of stealing from branches.
The fourth program of its kind is called Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS).
It is directed at sub-postmasters whose convictions were automatically overturned by the previous government’s Post Office Offenses Act, even though the convictions were not annulled by the courts.
As per the agreement, those impacted have the option to obtain a fixed settlement of £600,000 or submit an application for a possibly larger sum after their case is thoroughly evaluated by it.
There may be about 900 sub-postmasters who qualify, according to officials. Some of them have already received letters, and more will be sent out during the summer.
Additionally, the Ministry of Justice has pledged to cover “all reasonable legal fees” for victims.
