Postal workers who won a landmark civil case that helped expose a scandal involving faulty computer software will be compensated, the government says.
The 555 people who won the case during part of Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice will receive the same payout as postmasters who were wrongly convicted.
They were previously unable to claim compensation and their mailing bills were being eaten up by legal fees.
The announcement comes as a public inquiry into the scandal continues.
Between 2000 and 2014, hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting as a result of bugs in the Horizon computer software used in offices across the UK.
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In 2019, a group of 555 sub-postmasters and mistresses successfully challenged the Post over the allegations in the High Court.
This case set legal precedent and paved the way for a series of cases in which 72 people had criminal convictions overturned.
They were wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting when the Horizon computer software made it appear that money was missing from their stores.
The government has introduced a historic deficit regime to compensate more than 700 wrongly convicted former store managers.
However, the 555 people who won the High Court case were unable to take part in the scheme and although they received almost £43million in compensation in 2019, the group’s funds were offset by legal costs for Therium, the company that owns their Litigation funded, engulfed.
Mr Scully told BBC Radio 4 Today that the compensation paid to the 555 people would be “perfectly parallel” to the other postal workers who had been compensated under the historic deficit scheme.
He said the group were “pioneers” and “broke up” the scandal.
“I want to make sure they get that full compensation,” he said. “This is a massive scandal and I am absolutely determined to make amends.”
When asked whether the families of 32 of the 555 people who have died since could receive the compensation, Mr Scully said he would look into it.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that without the “efforts of these postmasters, this terrible injustice might never have been exposed, so it is only right that they be fully and fairly compensated”.
The new compensation scheme comes as High Court Judge Sir Wyn Williams is leading a public inquiry into the Post Office scandal which has seen testimonies heard from Post Office workers, some of whom have been wrongly accused or convicted of crimes they did not commit .
A total of 72 have been cleared by name so far.
The investigation, which is expected to run later this year, will examine whether the Post was aware of bugs in the Horizon IT system, which was developed by Japanese company Fujitsu.
It also asks how and why the blame was laid on them.
The Post has previously said that it “sincerely regrets the impact the Horizon scandal has had on the lives of victims and their families, and we have no doubt about the human cost.”
“In coming to terms with the past, our first priority is that full, fair and final compensation is provided and we are making good progress,” it added.
The Commerce Department has previously said it is “eager to see all Horizon-related issues resolved fairly and quickly, including for the 555 who played a crucial role in bringing this scandal to light.”
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