Post Office hero turns down ‘derisory’ payout

Alan Bates says compensation offered 111 days following claim is ‘offensive and cruel’

ALAN BATES has revealed he will reject a “cruel” and “derisory” Post Office Horizon scandal compensation offer from the Government.

The former sub-postmaster, whose story inspired the ITV drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, has fought a two-decade fight for justice after being forced to stop running his branch in 2003. But yesterday the Government offered him only about a sixth of what he had requested in compensation.

The Government has been repeatedly criticised for its treatment of subpostmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal – some of whom have never received any compensation despite their lives being ruined.

In 2022, ministers confirmed plans to compensate sub-postmasters who had won a High Court battle against the Post Office but had only received small sums through a settlement and promised they would deliver “full and fair compensation” to those affected.

After receiving his offer, Mr Bates told The Telegraph: “‘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.”

Mr Bates is one of more than 4,000 people who have been told they will be eligible for compensation as a result of the scandal. Errors in Fujitsu’s Horizon software caused shortfalls to be recorded which did not exist. Overall, more than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted after they were blamed for the shortfalls and some even served time in prison as a result of the scandal.

After winning a High Court case against the Post Office, sub-postmasters who had lost out were invited to submit a claim to the government compensation scheme.

Mr Bates said his lawyers engaged with forensic accountants to prepare his claim and that his offer was received at 4.59pm yesterday, 111 days after he had submitted his claim. He said he had been offered “around a sixth” of what he had claimed for. He said: “I will absolutely be turning this offer for financial redress down. It is just a terrible way to treat human beings – and I have heard from several sub-postmasters who have received similarly derisory offers, while others are still waiting.

“I have been in the queue along with all the others in the scheme, but if my case is an example of the way they are going to treat all the cases, we may as well start looking at a legal action again and let the judiciary decide.”

Along with 554 others, Mr Bates took the Post Office to the High Court, where a judge ruled in 2019 that the Horizon system contained “bugs, errors and defects”. The claimants were awarded £58 million. However, once legal costs were deducted they received £12 million – about £20,000 each on average.

A Government spokesman said: “If any applicant to the GLO scheme feels that they are owed more than is being offered, we are happy to discuss the evidence with their legal advisers. If we can’t agree, decisions will be made by an independent panel that includes legal and accountancy experts, who ensure fair redress based on the evidence.”