Sir Keir Starmer has responded to a letter from Sir Alan Bates calling for faster compensation for postmasters affected by the Post Office scandal, the Prime Minister's spokesman has said.
Sir Alan has written to the Prime Minister twice in the past month, urging him to ensure victims receive full financial compensation by March next year.
The former deputy station chief earlier told MPs he was still waiting for a response, before the Prime Minister's spokesperson announced later on Tuesday that a response had been issued.
Last week the Government announced that £1.8 billion had been set aside for those affected by the Horizon IT scandal, in addition to various compensation schemes already announced.
Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted after Horizon IT's faulty accounting system made it appear that money was missing from branch accounts.
Sir Alan, featured in an ITV television series which brought the scandal back into the spotlight earlier this year, heads the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance and was giving evidence to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
The hearing is considering speedy and fair redress for victims of the Post Office scandal and a key point for Sir Alan, which he has already highlighted, is that the Government must set deadlines for compensation payments.
He told MPs he had written to the Prime Minister twice in the past month saying “this needs to be completed by the end of March 2025”.
A Number 10 spokesperson said the Prime Minister responded to Sir Alan earlier on Tuesday and added that the Government was committed to securing speedy redress for victims, but was wary of fixing d an “arbitrary” deadline which could deprive certain applicants of their rights.
“We want to get redress as quickly as possible,” he said. “What we do not want is to set an absolute deadline which would result in some applicants not meeting the deadline.
“But every eligible postmaster should receive substantial relief by the end of March.”
Campaigners have criticized the length of time it takes for those affected to receive compensation. Many subpostmasters were wrongly sent to prison for false accounting and theft, and several others were financially ruined. Some died while waiting for justice.
The Prime Minister's spokesperson said that as of October 31, around £438 million had been paid to more than 3,100 claimants under the four compensation schemes.
At the commission, lawyers were asked about their experience with the Horizon Shortfall compensation program, overseen by the Post Office.
This compensation program is aimed at sub-postmasters who have not been convicted or who were not part of the Group Litigation Order (GLO) legal action, but who believe they have suffered breaches of cause of Horizon.
David Enright, whose law firm represents hundreds of Post Office victims, said there was no funding for legal advice initially, with claimants put through a “DIY questionnaire”.
Then, six to nine months later, he said there is a request for additional information that often involves 50 to 150 additional questions that only a forensic accountant can answer.
“The system is designed to wear people out,” he told MPs.
Another lawyer said some of his sub-postmaster clients were asked to provide evidence of losses in 20-year-old claims, but could not do so because the evidence had previously been seized by the Post Office and had not been returned.
The GLO program is aimed at the 555 former postmasters who won their class action, but who received relatively modest compensation once legal costs were paid. The program is funded and managed by the government.
