The sub-postmasters scandal has jumped to public attention after the hit ITV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The issues around the Horizon IT system have become a hot political issue. Watch as video producer Chloe Cobham explains everything you need to know about the Post Office scandal.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 You might have seen the Post Office scandal cropping up a lot in the news or on your social
00:03 media feed recently. But what actually is it and why is everyone talking about it?
00:08 Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted over 700 people. Subpostmasters and mistresses
00:16 were accused of false accounting and theft after faulty software made it look like money was
00:20 missing, in some cases up to tens of thousands of pounds. The Horizon computer system, created
00:26 by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was introduced into the Post Office in the late 1990s for tasks
00:31 like accounting and stock taking. After its introduction, many employees actually complained
00:36 about bugs in the system as they noticed it was incorrectly calculating shortfalls. But these
00:41 warnings were ignored by those higher up. The error in the system destroyed thousands of employees'
00:47 lives. Some were arrested, others left financially ruined. A number of convictions have been
00:52 overturned, but many victims are still fighting to clear their name. There's no amount of money
00:57 will give me back the last 11 years, the loss of reputation that I suffered, the stigma of being a
01:04 convicted criminal. I've had a lot of issues due to this, you know, the diabetes, a heart attack,
01:12 a open heart surgery, loss of peripheral visions, everything. So you might be thinking,
01:20 why are people talking about this now? Well, the new ITV series, Mr Bates vs. the Post Office,
01:26 has thrown the issue back into the spotlight. The computer system the Post Office spent an arm and
01:31 a leg on is faulty. No one else has ever reported any problems with Horizon. No one. You're
01:38 responsible for the loss. I haven't got that money and I don't know where it's gone. Alan Bates,
01:44 played by Toby Jones, was the sub-postmaster who led the campaign to expose the scandal.
01:49 Since the programme's release on January 1st, another 50 potential victims have come forward,
01:54 and the former Post Office Chief Executive Paula Venels has given up her CBE. As of December last
02:00 year, the government paid £138 million to over 2,700 claimants. Ministers also promised that
02:08 every branch owner operator whose conviction had been overturned would be paid £600,000 in
02:13 compensation. However, far fewer people than expected have received anything, as this payment
02:19 plan relies on victims going through and winning a lengthy appeals process. 59 victims of the
02:26 scandal have died without receiving any form of justice. The Met Police is now investigating
02:31 potential fraud offences arising from the prosecutions, while Rishi Sunak has vowed
02:35 to make things right with the victims. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said the government is
02:40 giving "active consideration" to the idea of quashing the convictions of the sub-postmasters.
02:46 Downing Street has also said Fujitsu will be held accountable legally or financially
02:52 if the public inquiry finds it blundered in the Horizon scandal.
02:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]